The Role of a Pain Management Physician
Pain can be caused by injury or diseases like fibromyalgia and arthritis. It can also be caused by conditions that affect the mind and emotions, such as anxiety and depression.
Pain medicine can be taken orally or injected. Your provider may prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like ibuprofen), muscle relaxants or antidepressants.
Facet injections are used to treat pain in the lumbar (lower back), thoracic (middle back) and cervical spine (neck). The procedure is performed while you are lying on a treatment table. The skin in the injection area will be cleansed and numbed with a local anesthetic. Using fluoroscopy or CT scan for accurate placement, your pain doctor will inject a mixture of anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medication into each of the targeted facet joints.
You may feel some pressure or discomfort during the injection of the pain killing medicine, which will last for only a few seconds. You will likely have increased pain in the injection area for a day or two, but this is normal as the anesthetic wears off. This will improve once the steroid medication starts working.
This procedure, also known as rhizotomy, uses radio waves to produce heat around the specific nerves that transmit pain signals to your brain. Once the nerves are destroyed, you should experience substantial pain relief.
You’ll be taken to a special procedure room and placed on the table. Your physician will use a fluoroscope to guide the needles to the correct position. You’ll feel a tingling sensation when the needle reaches the correct location. This identifies the nerve that transmits pain signals and confirms that the needle is positioned correctly.
Once the doctor has verified the proper placement of the needle, he or she will insert a microelectrode through the hollow needle. A mild radiofrequency current is then applied through the electrode, destroying the nerve and stopping it from sending pain signals to your brain.
The spinal cord extends down the spine and through a space between the bones of the spinal column, called the vertebrae. Between the bony vertebrae are sponge-like discs that act as shock absorbers. Herniated discs and enlarged facet joints can encroach on the space where spinal nerves exit, causing pain in the neck, upper back or lower back.
An epidural injection delivers a mixture of medications to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain. A local anesthetic numbs the area, and then the steroid medication decreases swelling around the spinal nerves that are contributing to pain.
Los Angeles Pain Relief Clinic offers lumbar epidural steroid injections (ESIs) and cervical epidural steroid injections for pain in the low back and sciatic leg, as well as neck pain that can spread to the shoulders and arms. These treatments are used when standard treatment methods like hot and cold therapy, oral pain relievers, physical therapy and modifying or avoiding activities do not provide relief.
Stem cells are the raw materials from which all other cells in your body perform specialized functions. When injected into the site of an injury, stem cells accelerate healing, rebuild tissue, and restore function.
Stem cell therapy is a highly refined, surgery-free treatment that harnesses your own body’s ability to heal itself by injecting your own stem cells into the site of disease or injury. We use high-tech imaging guidance like real-time fluoroscopy or musculoskeletal ultrasound to pinpoint the injection site.
We obtain the stem cells from your own body, usually from hip bone marrow or fat cells. These cells are then concentrated in a centrifuge and injected into the site of injury with the help of advanced imaging guidance. The injected stem cells naturally seek out damaged tissue and become the type of local cell necessary to speed up the healing process.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a revolutionary orthopedic treatment that accelerates healing of damaged joints, ligaments, and tendons. Our doctors take a sample of your own blood and spin it in a centrifuge to separate the plasma, which contains concentrated platelets that contain growth factors that promote healing.
The doctor then injects the PRP into the damaged tissue. This procedure is done under ultrasound guidance to ensure the injection is placed at the exact spot of damage.
Although many professional athletes use PRP therapy, it gained popularity when Tiger Woods underwent the treatment before his comeback in 2010. This innovative technique has been shown to reduce pain in chronic tendon injuries like tennis elbow, and other muscle and ligament tears. Unfortunately, it is still experimental and insurance companies do not cover the cost of PRP treatments.