Among the treatments for chronic pain, neurostimulation, the electrical stimulation of nerve structures, has the advantage of being fully controllable. There are three types of stimulation:
Spinal cord stimulation: the spread of pain in the brain is interrupted or attenuated by electrical stimuli applied to the spinal cord. One or two electrodes are applied to a specific region of the spinal cord and a neurostimulator (s) is placed under the skin.
Intracerebral stimulation: the brain or the occipital nerves are directly stimulated by means of electrodes and a neurostimulator.
Stimulation of peripheral nerves: mainly indicated for pain in the face or headache.
Other treatments include interrupting the pathways of pain, using neurosurgery, or decompressing a nerve. These can take different forms: Microsurgical decompression (release of a compressed nerve)
Electro-coagulation of the Gasser ganglion
Radiosurgery Corrective surgery (back problem, herniated disc ...)