Wednesday, March 04, 2009 rioroxy asks

Q: What are the risks from having the Occipital Nerve Stimulation procedure performed?

I suffer from intractable migraines and my pain management doctors feel it's time for me to have the Occipital Nerve Stimulator put in me. So far I have been on and tried just about every treatment out there and they have either failed or they seem to work ok but the pain is still there, I just have to live with it. Botox has worked the best for me, however; my insurance stopped paying for it. Now occipital nerve blocks work the best although, they don't always work. It depends on whether or not the doctor hits the right spot.

I am looking forward to having the ONS performed and would like to hear from others who have had it performed. I really also want to know the side effects of this procedure. Thank you.

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Teri Robert

3/ 8/09 3:07pm

Rioroxy,

I'm really not familiar with the risks of the procedure. Plus, they will vary a bit from person to person, depending on medical history and any other illnesses you may have to deal with.

Your doctor should be able to fully outline any risks.

There are, however, some other issues you need to look at in addition to the risks of the procedure....

1) It is not FDA approved for Migraine prevention.

2) It's not uncommon for the lead wires to slip, rendering the stimulator ineffective.

3) Since it's not FDA approved for Migraine prevention, most insurance companies will not cover it.

4) Some doctors get it approved by insurance companies by fudging the diagnosis. This is illegal and can result in legal action if discovered.

It's not that I want to discourage you, but I think you need to have as much information as possible. Please take the time to read Occipital Nerve Stimulation for Migraine and Headache Prevention - 2008 Update.

You may also want to come by our forum and ask your question to see if you can get more feedback. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.

Good luck,

Teri

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Q: What are the risks from having the Occipital Nerve Stimulation procedure performed?

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