Shocking the Spine Offers an Alternative to Opioids
Like millions of people caught up in America’s opioid crisis, Rick Surkin used to take a pill just to get out of bed in the morning. Until last year, the former firefighter relied on thrice-daily doses of the powerful painkiller OxyContin to numb the agony from a ruptured disc in his back. The series of tiny shocks, known as neuromodulation, has kept Surkin comfortable enough to ditch Oxy.