For years, the prescription for back-pain relief was two aspirin and a morning call to the doctor. Then came a slew of alternatives, from over-the-counter (OTC) medicines such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen to powerful narcotics. Thankfully, many chronic-pain patients have found at least one of those options brings them relief. Some, however, still suffer. The Personal Therapy Manager (PTM) could help. The PTM is a relatively new technology that can be added to the traditionally implanted intrathecal drug delivery system (Pain Pump). The PTM delivers pain medication directly into the spinal column with just a touch of a button, thereby giving the patient the ability to match the timing of extra doses with his or her requirements for relief. The difference between the older type of infusion pump and the PTM is that the PTM is controlled with an external hand-held device about the size of a cell phone. If the patient experiences a flare-up in pain, he or she can simply push a button to get the extra medication.
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