Medical Procedure Promises to Control Chronic Back and Knee Pain And Reduce Opioid Use in New Jersey

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In September, Congress agreed to a series of measures aimed at addressing the nation’s overwhelming opioid epidemic.  Politicians, in rare show of bipartisan agreement, were responding to a public outcry over the 72,000 overdose deaths that occurred in 2017, a majority of which – about 50,000 – involved opioids.

An epidemic of addiction has ravaged communities across the United States, including locally here in the tri-state area, where more than 1,400 people have died from an overdose. 

For years, prescription pain medications have been widely used to help control chronic pain. But now, thanks to advances in medical science and technology, there are new, minimally invasive procedures that can help control pain, instead.

Locally, the Ramapo Valley Surgical Center offers a procedure that is designed to help chronic pain patients live their lives more comfortably – without the need for opioids and other drugs.

The procedure involves implanting a tiny device in the patient’s spine. This device then sends high frequency, low-voltage pulses of electricity through the patient’s spinal cord. This stimulation produces an effect known as neuromodulation, and it inhibit pain signals. Essentially, painful impulses traveling up the spinal cord are cancelled-out before they reach the brain. The result is that patients need to take fewer pain medications, and in many cases, no opioid pain medications at all. Not only can this treatment provide an effective level of pain relief for the patient, but the devices can also lead to a number of other benefits. Many patients report improved mood and outlook.

The procedure is available on an outpatient basis, so that no hospital stay is required. This minimizes the disruption to the patient’s life and ensures that they can recover as quickly as possible.  Surgical centers like Ramapo Valley, which is located in Ramsey, NJ, are becoming a more attractive option for outpatient surgeries and procedures across the United States.

Ramapo Valley Surgical Center was founded in 2006 by a group of local doctors. In 2012, the Center partnered with VIRTUA Health, a non-profit healthcare system that operates a network of hospitals, surgery centers, and physician practices throughout New Jersey. Care is directed by the doctors and coordinated with their select team of nurses and outpatient specialists. It’s for this reason, many local residents are finding surgical centers like Ramapo Valley to be a health care game-changer.

Managing chronic pain still represents a significant challenge for the medical industry. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that a societal reliance on pharmaceutical drugs to help patients cope is not the answer. New treatments, like the spinal cord nerve simulator therapy at Ramapo Valley, are proving effective in providing patients with a wider range of options for managing their symptoms.