Interventional Pain Management

What Can You Expect?

A comprehensive physical examination will be performed during your first appointment with an Interventional Pain Management Doctor.  Your past medical history will also be discussed. Bring any past x-rays or test results you may have regarding your pain condition.

In addition, you should make the doctor aware of any other treatments you have tried as well as any medications you are currently taking. In addition to traditional treatments such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, and massage, don’t forget alternative therapies. Our exam will include a discussion of your current health condition, including when and where your pain occurs, as well as any other symptoms you may suffer from.

X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and possibly blood tests are among the tests the doctor may order. A psychological evaluation is possible at the same time. Additional studies may be performed by the physician (no need if the studies are up-to-date and appropriate) and previous studies may be reviewed.

Your medical information can be thoroughly analyzed by a thorough physical and diagnostic examination. The specialist can then create a pain management program specifically for you based on the results.

Your interventional pain management physician will assist you with coordinating the therapies needed once the treatment plan has been established. Treatments and services for interventional pain management are often provided at one facility, eliminating the need to travel from one site to another. Be sure to follow all instructions given by your doctor. Successful treatment depends on your full participation.

Interventional Pain Management for Back Pain

Pain management techniques such as interventional pain management can be beneficial for people suffering from back pain. Medical history and a physical examination are essential to interventional pain management, but there are numerous treatments available, including these:

• Epidural injections are used to relieve pain or diagnose certain conditions by administering anesthetics or steroids into the epidural space.
• A spinal root block, a medial branch block, or a nerve root block is the procedure used to determine the source of pain. Blocks can also be used to reduce the severity of pain and inflammation.
• Injections of the facet joints are used to determine whether they are the source of pain. Pain relief is also possible with these injections.
• Discography: an examination of the interior of the disc to ascertain if it is the cause of pain in the patient. An injection of a dye into a disc is followed by an x-ray or CT scan to examine the disc for damage.
• In Pulsed Radiofrequency Neurotomy (PRFN), nerves in the spine are disabled, so no pain signals are transmitted to the brain.
• Rhizotomy is a surgical procedure in which nerves that carry pain signals to the brain are heated so as to eliminate the transmission of pain signals.
• A spinal cord stimulation is a method of blocking the perception of pain in the brain by using electrical impulses.
• Surgically implanted intrathecal pumps deliver pain medications exactly to the area in the spine that is experiencing the pain. This procedure decompresses the disc by removing tissue, thereby relieving pressure, by removing tissue by percutaneous means.

NERVE BLOCKS

Low back pain conditions such as sacroiliac joint pain, sacroiliitis, or facet joint pain can be treated. Specifically, the nerves that give sensation to a joint will be cut. Nerve blocks typically provide patients with pain relief for several months to even a year.

The type of nerve block you receive depends on the symptoms and diagnosis you have:

• Stellate ganglion block
• Celiac plexus block
• Medial branch block
• Lumbar sympathetic block

RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION

Pain signals to the brain are reduced or eliminated by using heat therapy in this interventional pain management technique. Patients who experience long-term pain relief from this procedure might benefit from arthritis or sacroiliitis symptoms caused by facet joint syndrome.

We offer radiofrequency neurotomies of the cervical facet and the lumbar facet at WeCare Medical to help patients sustainably alleviate their discomfort.

SPINAL CORD STIMULATION

The use of spinal cord stimulation may effectively relieve pain for people with failed back surgery syndrome, cervical radiculitis, lumbar radiculitis, neuropathy, and complex regional pain syndrome.

A minimally invasive procedure is used to place electrodes near the spinal cord during spinal cord stimulation. When pain signals are intercepted by the electrodes, they provide pain relief. Generally considered to be a safe and reliable treatment method, the device will be temporarily implanted to see how effective it is at relieving pain before you have the option of having a spinal cord stimulator permanently implanted.

Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and lifestyle modifications (like exercise, diet, and quitting smoking) are often included in its treatment by interventional pain specialists.

INJECTIONS

There are a variety of injections available that can either temporarily or permanently relieve your pain. Among the injections we use are:

• Lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection
• PRP injection for chronic knee pain
• Sacroiliac joint steroid injection
• Cervical epidural steroid injection
• Facet joint injections
• Lumbar epidural steroid injection

Bottom line

Our Interventional Pain Management Services team possesses decades of combined experience, which allows us to perform a wide range of pain relief procedures.  Discography, kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty, neuromodulation (spinal cord stimulation), intrathecal pumps, stellate ganglion blocks, trigger point injections, and lumbar sympathetic blocks are some of the procedures that may be used. In addition to their knowledge, experience, and state-of-the-art equipment, our specialists at Interventional Pain Management are highly trained to treat chronic neck and back pain, cervical radiculopathy, and arthritis pain. Our online appointment booking can provide you with more information about the services available.