Pain Treatment

The multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, neurooncologists, neurologists, neuroradiologists and neuropathologists at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute Pain Center work together to customize pain treatment plans for each patient that incorporates the latest, science-based pain management procedures.

There are numerous pain treatments available to help treat back and neck pain. Some of the innovative procedures available at North Shore-LIJ Health System include epidural injections, facet injections and sacroiliac joint injections, as well as:

• Cryoneurolysis, Cryoablation – relieves pain by using cold to destroy nerve tissue
• Radiofrequency Ablation – during this pain treatment procedure a probe generates a microwave, allowing a pain specialist to destroy nerve tissue and relieve pain
• Epiduroscopy – using a special, small endoscope, the pain specialist can enter the spinal canal to remove scar tissue and take painful pressure off nerves.
• Discography/Annuloplasty – a tiny scope is used to look at spinal damage, then annuloplasty uses a needle to produce heat and destroy the spinal disc defects that cause pain.
• Nucleoplasty – an advanced pain treatment for spinal pain that reduces the size of a damaged disc to relieve pain-causing pressure on nerves
• Neuromodulation – there are several types of this cutting-edge treatment for pain, including:
  • Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): Patients with significant disability, despite optimization of their medical regimen, may be candidates for DBS. Deep Brain Stimulation is a procedure in which tiny electrodes are placed into the brain with the help of computer guidance. These electrodes are connected to pacemaker-like devices implanted beneath the collarbone, much like a cardiac pacemaker. Continuous electrical stimulation effectively blocks the abnormal circuitry of the brain that occurs in a variety of intractable central pain syndromes, including phantom limb pain, post-stroke pain and atypical intractable facial pain.
  • Motor Cortex Stimulation (MCS): MCS entails implantation of one or more electrodes over the primary motor cortex in the brain for the treatment of intractable central pain syndromes, including phantom limb pain, post-stroke pain and atypical intractable facial pain. Motor cortex stimulation can be an effective pain treatment option when medication regimens and other pain treatments fail to provide relief.
  • Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS): PNS can effectively treat neuropathic (nerve) pain, including migraine and cluster headaches, occipital neuralgia, supraorbital neuralgia, infraorbital neuralgia, atypical facial pain and axial back pain. The procedure involves placing electrodes under the skin in the region of the pain, connected to a pacemaker-like device implanted beneath the collarbone. The result is an improvement in headache or facial pain severity and frequency. PNS has been proven to be highly effective in multiple studies throughout the United States and abroad. The Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery has been involved and continues to be involved in FDA sponsored studies of peripheral nerve stimulation. Our center has the most experience in the use of neurostimulation in patients with headache associated with Chiari Malformation (a congenital defect, present at birth, in the area of the back of the head where the brain and spinal cord connect).
  • Spinal Cord Stimulation: This technique can block the sensation of pain with an electrical device implanted in the body. It uses a mild current to replace the feeling of pain with a pleasant sensation similar to the feel of running water, or pleasant buzzing or tingling. Spinal cord stimulation is a commonly used pain treatment after back surgeries have failed to provide pain relief. Other indications include peripheral neuropathy (severe pain in the arms, legs, hands or feet), reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), lumbar radiculopathy (nerve irritation caused by damage to the discs between the vertebrae) and, in some cases, severe phantom limb pain following an amputation.
  • Intrathecal drug delivery system or intrathecal pain pump: This pain treatment modality uses a device that delivers pain medications directly into the spinal canal.

Make an appointment at the Pain Center:
Cushing Neuroscience Institute’s Pain Center makes it easy for you to take the first steps in ensuring the best neurological and neurosurgical care for yourself or your family. Simply fill out our Request an Appointment form, email us at neuro@nshs.edu or call us at (516) 325-7070.