New therapy changes how we deal with pain

At Pain and Spine Specialists of Idaho, Doctors Jason Poston and Jake Poulter, who specializes in pain medicine and management, are continually improving nerve signal therapy.

And as of last May, the FDA approved a life-changing therapy, using what’s called a Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulator.

“This device has allowed us to reach out and treat pain in ways that we’ve never been able to do before. Every once in awhile in our careers, we come across a therapy that’s a game changer, and this has been a game changer in the way we address certain types of pain,” said Dr. Poulter.

This specific therapy is the first of its kind, intended on targeting the patient’s area of individual pain. “It’s a very powerful therapy–it uses electrical energy to alter nerve signals as they travel through sometimes damaged,” said Dr. Poston.

Idaho is home to the first recipient of this nerve signal therapy–Jon Drollinger of the Idaho Falls Fire Department received this nerve signal therapy following an accident in 2013.

“Almost immediately, the pain had subsided where I could resume some normal activity and within six or eight weeks I was back to work as fireman. Before the DRG stimulator, the pain was so intense I was not able to do anything. It’s made a profound difference in my life, and without it, I don’t know where I would be,” said Drollinger.

This particular therapy has been anticipated for many years and can eliminate the dangers associated with pain medications.

“With therapies that are not medication, we can improve the safety of the patients, and we can actually provide far greater, more profound pain relief than we could in the past without this therapy,” said Poston.