Brain Surgery : Introduction

I really feel that this post a bit late, but better late than never. Ok, so, here we go..
Epileptic seizures are produced by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Surgical removal of seizure-producing areas of the brain has been an accepted form of treatment for over 50 years.
Brain surgery is one of the scariest operations a person can endure. While the thought itself is terrifying, brain surgery is necessary to combat certain cancers, aid victims of strokes and help head trauma victims lead a normal life. People who have to undergo brain surgery and their loved ones want to know if brain surgery is painful. The short answer is not as much as you might think.
The brain is the epicenter for emotion, conscious and unconscious function, thinking and memory. Your brain is the reason you recognize and feel pain, but oddly enough, your brain doesn’t have any pain receptors of its own.


Surgery can be performed on both children and adults. However, it is not a suitable treatment for everyone who has epilepsy, or for everyone with poor seizure control.

Brain surgery is a way of treating certain kinds of epilepsy that cannot be controlled with medication. Risks and benefits of surgery should be carefully discussed in advance with the doctors who are going to perform the operation. Certain testing is necessary before the operation. In some cases, surgery for epilepsy requires two operations.

Ask your doctor and the neurosurgeon that will be performing the operation how much pain you can expect. Brain surgery is performed with patients while they are awake and asleep. During the operation you will have anesthesia, either local or general. Either way, you will feel nothing during the brain surgery.

Learn about the post-operational pain. Once again, it is less than you might think. You will have a headache for a few days, and it will be a very strong one. Fortunately, you will be able to take pain medication to manage the pain. Nothing too strong, though. The doctors want you to be alert.

If you know someone who has undergone brain surgery you could ask them about the pain, or you could join a support group. Not all patients are good candidates for surgery.

Having brain surgery does not guarantee that a person will be free of seizures or won't have to take medicine anymore. However, chances are good that most people will have fewer seizures after surgery and many will become seizure-free.

Not all epilepsy-related surgery is performed on the brain. Therapy which delivers pulses of energy to the brain through a large nerve in the neck (VNS therapy) requires a different type of surgical procedure to set the system in place.
Brain surgery and VNS implants are accepted treatments for relief of seizures and are covered by most health insurance plans.