A method for treating a patient having nociceptive pain in a body region using at least one electrode implanted within a spinal column of the patient. The method comprises conveying electrical stimulation energy from the at least one implanted electrode to an efferent motor neural structure innervating the body region, thereby inducing an endogenous chemical response within a spinal cord of the patient that treats the nociceptive pain. Another method for treating a patient suffering from a medical ailment. The other method comprises applying electrical stimulation energy to an efferent neural structure, thereby increasing the activation threshold of the efferent neural structure relative an afferent neural structure, and applying electrical stimulation energy to the afferent neural structure while the activation threshold of the efferent neural structure is increased, thereby modulating activity of the afferent neural structure to treat the medical ailment while minimizing stimulation of the efferent neural structure.
Method for epidural stimulation of neural structures