There are certain times when chronic pain cannot be fixed with simply physical therapy or surgery. It may be that a previous surgery did not work or made things worse. It could also be that the patient is suffering from a condition such as diabetic neuropathy where there is no surgical option and the patient simply has to deal with the pain.
If this situation exists and the individual simply needs to deal with their pain, what options exist to reduce the chronic pain? There are several options that can provide relief to the patient so they should not despair completely. The 1st thing to try is either physical rehabilitation or physical therapy.
These 2 modalities can both be extremely helpful and they are similar. Physical therapy is typically done by physical therapist and the rehabilitation is often performed by chiropractors. Both can reduce pain along with increasing a patient's function.
Along with these options individuals should seek treatment from a pain management physician who specializes in treating chronic pain. This way the physician may utilize medication such as anti-inflammatories and maybe even opiates, or potentially an antidepressant along with a neurologic agent like Lyrica or Neurontin. Additionally, the individual may require some muscle relaxants so it is best to be under the care of a specialist to help manage these medications.
When it comes to additional treatment, a lot of it will depend on the particular type of pain the patient is having and what's causing it. It may be interventional treatments from the pain doctor can help directly so for instance if the patient is dealing with chronic pelvic pain the answer may be a superior hypogastric pelvic plexus block.
This is just one example, another one would be a radiofrequency ablation procedure that can be performed for chronic back pain from facet arthritis and also chronic neck pain from the same type of problem.
The patient is having a significant pain problem along the spinal column it may very well be that interventional injections can do the trick with pain relief. Another last resort is if a patient is having chronic pain that is not amenable to surgery a spinal cord stimulator may be effective. A stimulator does not cure anything, but it may alleviate pain chronically.
The spinal cord stimulator has a paddle with small diodes that are positioned around the spinal cords at the epidural space and gives off a electrical impulses that can change the pain signals going to the brain. This may decrease the pain from those signals substantially.
The implants are placed on an outpatient basis and typically are preceded by a trial of an implant to make sure it's going to work. The trial is left in place for 4 to 7 days, and if it works the patient receives a final implant. This involves placing the paddle as mentioned around the spinal cord and also involves attaching it to a battery that can be placed under the skin either in the abdominal area or on top of the buttock region.
The overall success rates for spinal cord stimulator's are around 60 to 65%. For a chronic pain patient who was miserable it has very few options this may be actually very satisfactory, even if it only provides 50% relief.
If this situation exists and the individual simply needs to deal with their pain, what options exist to reduce the chronic pain? There are several options that can provide relief to the patient so they should not despair completely. The 1st thing to try is either physical rehabilitation or physical therapy.
These 2 modalities can both be extremely helpful and they are similar. Physical therapy is typically done by physical therapist and the rehabilitation is often performed by chiropractors. Both can reduce pain along with increasing a patient's function.
Along with these options individuals should seek treatment from a pain management physician who specializes in treating chronic pain. This way the physician may utilize medication such as anti-inflammatories and maybe even opiates, or potentially an antidepressant along with a neurologic agent like Lyrica or Neurontin. Additionally, the individual may require some muscle relaxants so it is best to be under the care of a specialist to help manage these medications.
When it comes to additional treatment, a lot of it will depend on the particular type of pain the patient is having and what's causing it. It may be interventional treatments from the pain doctor can help directly so for instance if the patient is dealing with chronic pelvic pain the answer may be a superior hypogastric pelvic plexus block.
This is just one example, another one would be a radiofrequency ablation procedure that can be performed for chronic back pain from facet arthritis and also chronic neck pain from the same type of problem.
The patient is having a significant pain problem along the spinal column it may very well be that interventional injections can do the trick with pain relief. Another last resort is if a patient is having chronic pain that is not amenable to surgery a spinal cord stimulator may be effective. A stimulator does not cure anything, but it may alleviate pain chronically.
The spinal cord stimulator has a paddle with small diodes that are positioned around the spinal cords at the epidural space and gives off a electrical impulses that can change the pain signals going to the brain. This may decrease the pain from those signals substantially.
The implants are placed on an outpatient basis and typically are preceded by a trial of an implant to make sure it's going to work. The trial is left in place for 4 to 7 days, and if it works the patient receives a final implant. This involves placing the paddle as mentioned around the spinal cord and also involves attaching it to a battery that can be placed under the skin either in the abdominal area or on top of the buttock region.
The overall success rates for spinal cord stimulator's are around 60 to 65%. For a chronic pain patient who was miserable it has very few options this may be actually very satisfactory, even if it only provides 50% relief.
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Want to find out more about Arizona pain doctors, then visit Preferred Pain Center's site on how to choose the best Phoenix chiropractor for your needs.
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