Dr. Reed Explains The Reed Procedure®

“An implantable neurostimulator is an implantable unit that goes under the skin–in this case for the control of pain, particularly for migraine headaches. People can think of this as an analogy for the pacemaker of the heart in which a little battery is placed under the skin.”

“People who are candidates for this suffer from severe headaches and have been through other courses of treatment they are not responding to or they are not responding well to high doses of medication.”

“This period of test stimulation shows the patient exactly what a permanent stimulator feels like.”

“With a test stimulator, we actually implant a temporary unit, which looks like an IV tube going under the skin. We leave it in for three days and the patient sees if it stops the pain.”

“The difference between the test and permanent stimulator is the permanent stimulator has the battery under the skin and the test has it on top.”

“When it is successful and stops their headaches, they are overjoyed for a lot of different reasons. The most important is the headache is gone.”

“When it is successful and stops their headaches, they are overjoyed for a lot of different reasons. The most important is the headache is gone.”

“We treat a lot of different diagnostic categories, and I want to emphasize that a patient shouldn’t worry so much about whether their diagnosis works or not; they all do. In particular, we are looking for patients with severe headaches, whether it is severe tension headaches or migraines. This can work any of them.”

“If patients want more information about the procedure, maybe the best way is the patient ambassador program. It’s always valuable for a potential patient to speak to another patient.”

“It’s one thing to talk to the doctor about the procedure, but it’s another thing to actually sit down and talk to a patient that has this implant.”