What is interventional pain management?
Interventional pain management is the discipline of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of pain and related disorders with theapplication of interventional techniques in managing subacute, chronic, persistent, and intractable pain, independently or in conjunction with other modalities of treatments.

What are interventional pain management techniques?
Interventional pain management techniques are minimally invasive procedures including, percutaneous precision needle placement, with placement of drugs in targeted areas or ablation of targeted nerves; and some surgical techniques such as laser or endoscopic diskectomy, intrathecal infusion pumps and spinal cord simulators, for the diagnosis and management of chronic, persistent or intractable pain.

Who are doctors specializing in pain management?
Pain specialists come from various primary specialties with advanced training and expertise. They mainly are anesthesiologists, physical medical rehabilitation specialists and neurologists. However, they may include neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and interventional radiologists.

What is the difference between acute pain and chronic pain?
Acute pain is pain of a short, limited duration, usually the result of an injury, surgery or medical illness. Acute pain often goes away with the healing process.

Chronic pain continues for longer periods of time, sometimes even long time after the healing of the original injury is expected to have occurred. Chronic pain is also associated with frustration, depression and anxiety.

Treatments for acute and chronic pain are often quite different.

What are some treatments for my pain?
Due to the rapid advances of modern medicine, there are many varieties of treatments available for pain. The degree of pain varies from person to person, so your treatment plan will be tailored to your specific needs and circumstances. Treatment may include a single approach or a combination of medications, therapies and procedures such as:

Medications
Pain Medicines
Narcotic pain medicines are often used to treat acute pain or cancer pain. They are prescribed for chronic pain also in conjunction with other modalities of treatment or after other modalities have failed.

Anti-inflammatory drugs
Aspirin-like drugs are the most commonly used medications of this type.
They not only reduce-swelling and irritation but also can relieve pain.

Anti-depressants
Originally used only to treat depression, studies have shown that these medications can alleviate pain in certain situations. Furthermore, they may have the added benefit of helping the patient to sleep at night.

Anti-seizure medications
These medications may help relieve certain types of pain by reducing abnormal electrical discharges in damaged nerves.

Other medications
You may be prescribed other types of medicine(s) that are more specific to the type of pain you are experiencing.

Injection Treatments
Local anesthetics, with or without cortisone-like medicines, can be injected around nerve, epidural space or into joint. These may act to reduce swelling, irritation, muscle spasms or abnormal nerve transmissions that can cause pain.

Epidural injections
      Facet joint blocks/neurolysis
      Intradiscal thermal therapy
      SI joint injections
      Lysis of adhesions
      Spinal Endoscopy
      Spinal cord stimulation
      Morphine pumps
      Trigger point injections

Physical Therapy
Exercise and education are some of the treatments that a physical therapist may provide for you.

Surgery
When necessary, often surgical treatment may be recommended. Some minimally invasive surgeries (disc heating, etc.), spinal cord stimulation or morphine pumps are offered at our center.

Psychotherapy
When necessary, psychotherapy along with medication management is offered

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