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Diabetics in Minnesota Can Now Get Lasting, Effective, Relief from Diabetes-Related Pain Without Opioids

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EDINA, Minn. (PRWEB)

Minnesotans suffering from chronic diabetes-related pain, called diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), now have access to an advanced and highly effective treatment option that can provide long-term relief without the use of opioid medications. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS), a treatment that has been used to treat other forms of chronic pain for years, has recently undergone advancements that allow it to treat DPN pain.

Over 34 million people in the U.S. have diabetes1, and studies show that approximately half of them will eventually develop DPN2. DPN is the result of nerve damage caused by consistency elevated blood sugar. There are many symptoms of DPN, but among the most common are sharp, stabbing pain or cramps, tingling or burning sensations, and extremely painful sensitivity to touch. These symptoms are usually experienced in the extremities such as the feet, legs, hands, and arms, and can be utterly debilitating to the sufferer’s quality of life.

Historically, treatments for DPN have been mostly limited to conservative options such as injections, opioid pain medications, and physical therapy. However, many patients have found these do not provide adequate or lasting relief from their DPN pain.

But recent innovations in SCS technology have changed that. SCS has been around for decades and has been used to treat a variety of chronic pain conditions. Now, new SCS programs have been introduced specifically to target DPN pain. The only trouble is that this revolutionary treatment is relatively unknown to diabetes patients and primary care providers alike.

An SCS system is comprised of two parts – a small battery not much larger than a silver dollar, and thin wires called leads. These components are implanted beneath the patient’s skin and connected to each other. When activated, the system delivers mild electric pulses to certain nerves in the spine. The electric pulses, which are generated at very specific frequencies, stimulate the nerves, masking pain signals before they reach the brain.

Twin Cities Pain Clinic, a pain management group headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, is one of Minnesota’s most experienced providers of SCS therapy. Their physicians perform hundreds of SCS procedures each year and are experts at administering this therapy to treat DPN pain.

“It is tragic when patients have to deal with excruciating pain on top of all the other complications associated with diabetes,” said Dr. Andrew J. Will, founder and medical director of Twin Cities Pain Clinic. “We have long been proponents of spinal cord stimulation and the life-changing results it can produce without requiring any opioids. We are proud to offer this innovative technology to treat DPN pain and help patients get back to living their best lives.”

Extensive research has been performed to determine the effectiveness of SCS for DPN and the results have been inspiring. Clinical research data suggests that DPN patients are 17 times more likely to experience significant pain relief with stimulation therapy compared to conventional therapies3 while another study showed that DPN patients receiving SCS therapy experienced 76% pain relief on average4.

While SCS therapy does not promise to entirely eliminate DPN pain, it offers an effective, opioid-free treatment that can provide significant enough relief to allow patients to enjoy a renewed quality of life.

About Twin Cities Pain Clinic

Twin Cities Pain Clinic is a comprehensive pain management organization that has been helping patients achieve relief from chronic pain since 2003. As a leading authority in the field of chronic pain management, our organization is committed to providing every patient with a customized treatment plan consisting of the most advanced and effective therapies to provide optimal outcomes. To learn more or schedule an appointment, go online to http://www.twincitiespainclinic.com or call (952) 841-2345.

1. Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. (2022, May 27). Diabetes Statistics. DRIF. https://diabetesresearch.org/diabetes-statistics/

2. Hicks, C. W., & Selvin, E. (2019). Epidemiology of Peripheral Neuropathy and Lower Extremity Disease in Diabetes. Current diabetes reports, 19(10), 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-019-1212-8

3. de Vos CC, Meier K, Zaalberg PB, Nijhuis HJ, Duyvendak W, Vesper J, Enggaard TP, Lenders MW. Spinal cord stimulation in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy: a multicentre randomized clinical trial. Pain. 2014 Nov;155(11):2426-31. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2014.08.031. Epub 2014 Aug 29. PMID: 25180016.

4. Petersen, E. A., Stauss, T. G., Scowcroft, J. A., Brooks, E. S., White, J. L., Sills, S. M., Amirdelfan, K., Guirguis, M. N., Xu, J., Yu, C., Nairizi, A., Patterson, D. G., Tsoulfas, K. C., Creamer, M. J., Galan, V., Bundschu, R. H., Mehta, N. D., Sayed, D., Lad, S. P., DiBenedetto, D. J., … Mekhail, N. A. (2022). Durability of High-Frequency 10-kHz Spinal Cord Stimulation for Patients With Painful Diabetic Neuropathy Refractory to Conventional Treatments: 12-Month Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes care, 45(1), e3–e6. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-1813

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