Am I a candidate for the Vega Procedure?

All neurostimulator implant procedures, including the Vega Procedure, have straightforward criteria for being a candidate. Basically, the neurostimulator implants employ FDA devices that have been documented successful through over 50 years and hundreds of peer-reviewed research reports. They are all designed to treat severe chronic pain that has not responded to any other more conservative treatments. Essentially, you are a candidate for evaluation for an implant if you satisfy the following criteria:

• You have severe chronic pain (commonly back pain but can be anywhere in your body) of at least 6 months duration
• You have tried other more conservative treatments without success, such that you are basically living with chronic pain
• And, you are interested in a potentially permanent treatment solution that doesn’t involve narcotic medications

What types of chronic pain do neurostimulators treat?

As noted, one of the criteria noted above is that you suffer from chronic pain of at least 6 months duration. Now, while these devices are most commonly implanted to treat chronic back pain, they in fact have proven successful in treating chronic pain in virtually any part of the body and for a variety of underlying causes of the pain.

In addition to chronic back pain, they have proven very successful for:

• Chronic headaches, including migraines
• Painful diabetic neuropathy
• Painful legs due to lack of adequate circulation
• Pain due to nerve injuries and other neuropathies
• Chronic leg & foot (or arm and hand) pain due to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD)
• Chronic pain due to Post Herpetic Neuralgia

In short, implanted neurostimulators are FDA-approved devices that have proven successful for over 50 years as a treatment for many types of chronic, intractable back and extremity pain, as well as chronic head pain, which has not responded to other treatments.