How to Manage Serious Pain

Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts more than 12 weeks. It can be caused by a variety of conditions, including sports injuries, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, pinched nerves, and spinal stenosis. Regardless of the reason, chronic pain can have a major impact on your quality of life, making it difficult to work, enjoy hobbies, or even sleep. Pain doesn’t even have to be extremely severe to limit you.

If you’re living with chronic pain, don’t hesitate to seek treatment for lasting relief from your symptoms. Physicians who do not specialize in treating pain may write you a prescription for pain medication and recommend changing your diet and exercise. While these are helpful, a different approach is more likely to give you the desired results.

Let’s discuss a more effective way to manage serious pain symptoms.

Individualized Pain Management Program

A pain management doctor is a specialist who specializes in eliminating pain. Pain management doctors use a variety of treatments – many of which are not offered by other physicians – to improve their patients’ conditions.

The following are just some of the treatments a pain management specialist can provide:

• Epidural Steroid Injections – involve injecting steroids into the epidural space to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Epidural steroid injections help to relieve pain in the lower back, legs, and hips.
• Facet Joint Injections – involve injecting a steroid into the facet joints (in the vertebral column) to reduce inflammation and pain. Facet joint injections can relieve specific types of pain, such as neck or back pain.
• Nerve Blocks – involve temporarily numbing the nerves that send pain signals to the brain. Nerve blocks are used as a pain management technique to relieve specific types of pain, such as headaches, back pain, and nerve pain.
• Peripheral Joint Injections – involve injecting medication directly into the joint and are used to relieve pain in the hip, knee, and shoulder.
• Sacroiliac Joint Injections – involve injecting medication into the sacroiliac joint. Sacroiliac joint injections are used as a pain management technique to relieve pain in the lower back and buttocks.
• Spinal Cord Stimulation – involves the placement of an implant right under the skin that sends electrical signals to the spinal cord. This method is typically used in patients with debilitating and chronic lower back, leg, and arm pain.
• Trigger Point Injections – involve injecting medication into trigger points, causing the muscles to relax and loosen up.

There are many reasons why you should seriously consider undergoing pain management treatment. Here are three benefits of pain management therapy:

1. Lasting relief from chronic pain: If you suffer from chronic pain, chances are that traditional medical treatments have not been effective in relieving your symptoms. Pain management doctors target pain at the source, which makes them more effective than masking the problem.
2. Avoidance/reduction of dependency on addictive medication: Many people who suffer from chronic pain may develop a dependence on pain medication, which can have serious repercussions, including addiction. Pain management treatments are interventional, and not medication based.
3. Improved mental well-being and social functioning: It has long been known that untreated physical pain can lead to psychological distress and social isolation – both factors that negatively impact mental well-being and overall quality of life. The longer a person suffers from pain, the greater the damage it can cause.

Pain Management Doctor in St. Peters, O’Fallon & Wentzville, MO

Our pain management doctor at Advanced Bone & Joint, Dr. Zachary P. Fallon, is board-certified and fellowship-trained, and hyper-focused on helping our patients achieve immediate and lasting relief from their pain symptoms. Our team of specialists sees patients with neck and back pain, arthritis pain, and cancer pain, and has a truly emphatic approach to each one of our patients. We are committed to getting you back to living and loving your life. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Fallon, call our office today at (636) 229-4222, or use our convenient online request form.