SMOC In The News: Option to Opdiods: Managing Pain Without Pills
KITTY HAWK, N.C. (WAVY) — People taking opioids for chronic pain now have a new option.
Heather Breckenridge, of Kitty Hawk, is the first person from our region to be implanted with the latest type of spinal cord stimulator. She blew out two discs in her back while working at a wine store on the Outer Banks.
“You just simply do not need (opioids), the pain is just gone. And they said as long as I had a 50-75 percent reduction in my pain…that’s success,” Breckenridge. “On any given day it’s 95 too 100 percent gone, there’s nothing there.”
Dr. Victor Tseng, of the Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center, said, “We’ve been able to reduce a significant amount of patients their opiate daily usage. So I think it is an extremely viable option and good alternative to chronic opiates.”
Investigative reporter Chris Horne will have more tonight on how this new breakthrough works, and how you can see whether this may be an option for you.
Look for his full report on WAVY News 10, with coverage beginning at 4 p.m.
