Good news for everybody who suffers from chronic back and leg pain – a new high-frequency spinal cord stimulation treatment has been shown to have almost twice the effectiveness of traditional low-frequency treatments. According to UPI, doctors found that spinal cord stimulation, or SCS, can provide significant relief at higher frequencies.

SCS is administered with a small device that is placed under the skin to treat chronic pain in the appendages and torso. At high frequencies, delivered by a system called HF10, 10,000 Hz pulse through the device. Traditional instruments only deliver 40 to 60 Hz in low-frequency SCS.

One of the benefits of high-frequency SCS is that it shows no signs of inducing paresthesia, or a tingling sensation caused by the device. The buzzing from lower frequency treatments is notorious for causing discomfort in patients, limiting its efficacy.

According to Dr. Leonardo Kapural, anesthesiology professor from Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine, this is the first time a study has compared the risks with the benefits of high frequency SCS therapy as opposed to the lower-frequency treatments.

Leg and back pain have always been difficult to treat, and many doctors resort to opiod prescriptions that often have adverse side effects.

In a study of 171 patients who suffered from chronic leg or back pain that already had an SCS device implanted in their skin, over 80 percent of both leg and back pain patients reported a significant reduction in symptoms after three months of high-frequency treatment.

The study was published in the journal Anesthesiology, and could change the standard for treating chronic pain with spinal cord stimulation treatments.