Pain Management After Serious Injuries

New Treatments Can Improve Quality of Life for Patients With Chronic Nerve Pain

Pain Management, also called Pain Medicine, is a type of specialized medical care designed to minimize the impact of surgical pain or chronic pain. Chronic pain, in particular, can be difficult to control and sometimes impossible to cure. But pain management treatments can reduce pain and help patients enjoy a better quality of life.

Who Benefits From Pain Management

Pain management can treat recurring pain that follows surgery, spine problems, pain associated with cancer or cancer treatment, neuropathic diseases, migraines and injuries such as whiplash.

Who Practices Pain Management

Pain management draws specialists from many different medical fields. Your specialist may have a background in anesthesiology, physical therapy, neurology or psychology. Pain management practitioners work closely with a patient's doctors and nurses to create a plan that is tailored to each patient’s needs.

Types of Treatment

Chronic pain may be treated with a variety of tools, including injections, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, exercise and psychological treatments. Patients take an active role in their own treatment, providing feedback to help the specialist design the most effective plan possible.

Living With Chronic Pain

Pain management therapy can greatly reduce a patient’s pain and provide coping strategies that keep pain from being intolerable. Although some types of chronic pain can never be completely eliminated, pain management can bring significant relief to many people.

Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection

This injection relieves pain in the neck, shoulders, and arms caused by a pinched nerve (or nerves) in the cervical spine. Conditions such as herniated discs, spinal stenosis, or radiculopathy can compress nerves, causing inflammation and pain. The medication injected helps decrease the swelling of nerves.

• Patient Sedated: This procedure is performed with the patient lying down. Intravenous sedation may be administered, and a region of skin and tissue of the neck is numbed with a local anesthetic delivered through a small needle.
• Needle Inserted: Using x-ray guidance (also called fluoroscopy), the physician guides a larger needle to the painful area of the neck. The needle is inserted into the epidural space, which is the region through which the spinal nerves travel.
• Contrast Dye Injected: Contrast dye is injected into the space to make sure the needle is properly positioned near the irritated nerve or nerves.
• Steroid Injected: A combination of an anesthetic and cortisone steroid solution is injected into the epidural space. The steroid is an anti-inflammatory medication that is absorbed by the inflamed nerves to decrease swelling and relieve pressure.

End of Procedure: The needle is removed and a small bandage is applied. The patient goes to a recovery room and is given food and drink and discharged with post treatment instructions. Some patients may need only one injection, but it may take two or three injections (administered two weeks apart) to provide significant pain relief.

Call the Law Offices of Ron Sholes, P.A., if you have questions about insurance and emergency medical care and aftercare for personal injury and accident cases.