Everyone experiences pain – backache, headache, joint pain – at some point in their life. Most often there are simple reasons for the pain, such as a minor injury, stress or overuse of a muscle or joint. Generally, the pain resolves within a week or less using traditional pain treatments. But what if your pain doesn’t respond to traditional pain treatment and continues to negatively impact your life?

Today, pain management specialists are adding interventional therapies to their practice to better meet the needs of their clients. What exactly is interventional pain management, and how does it differ from traditional pain management?

We’re glad you asked!

interventional pain management

Traditional pain management is traditional because it’s been around forever. It involves ingesting certain substances to cover up pain. In ancient times, they used herbs or willow bark. Today we deal with pain by taking over-the-counter (OTC) medications such as Tylenol or Aleve, or opioid prescription medications.

Traditional pain treatment makes use of external therapies, such as heat, ice, gels, or creams. It might also involve physical therapy. These are all non-invasive (but not without side effects). And they only cover up the pain. They don’t get at the root cause.

Interventional pain management specialists seek to diagnose and treat the cause of your pain. The emphasis is on a correct diagnosis to determine the most likely pain generators. Interventional pain management aims to disrupt the pain cycle closer to the source to prevent the body from sending the pain signals in the first place – far different from just covering up the pain.

Interventional pain specialists have the tools to accomplish this, as they are:

  • thoroughly educated in the physiology of pain
  • skilled at evaluating even complex pain through the use of specialized tests
  • trained in performing interventional procedures such as nerve blocks and spinal injections

SOME PROCEDURES IN AN INTERVENTIONAL PAIN SPECIALIST’S TOOL-KIT:

  • INJECTION THERAPY – one of the standard interventional treatments. For back pain, an epidural steroid injection can block pain signals from the spine and reduce inflammation causing the pain in the first place. For joint pain, a cortisone steroid injection can bring relief to pain in many joints of the body.
  • NERVE BLOCK – an injection that uses a numbing solution to control and block the nerves that are signaling pain. This is a very versatile treatment that can be used throughout the body, including the face.
  • KYPHOPLASTY – a minimally invasive technique that repairs fractured vertebrae in the spine with a specialized cement. It restores the structural integrity of the spine and can be a long-term fix for chronic back pain.
  • DISCECTOMY – a treatment that removes a portion of the herniated disc putting pressure on a nerve. This is a common procedure with a proven track record in reducing back pain.
  • SPINAL CORD STIMULATOR – a high-tech solution for chronic back pain that uses a low flow of electricity to mute the nerves in your spine.
  • RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION – a treatment using a small amount of gentle heat placed directly on joints; ideal for acute joint pain.
  • STEM CELL AND PLATELET-RICH THERAPIES – organic ways of boosting the body’s natural regenerative abilities; helps heal the cause of joint pain while alleviating pain in the interim.

If you are wondering if you might me a candidate for an interventional pain management procedure, ask yourself one of the following questions:

  1. Does my pain negatively impact the quality of my life?
  2. Has my pain outpaced my use of traditional pain treatments?
  3. Do I want to avoid potentially-addictive medications in treating my chronic pain?
  4. Do I want to avoid complex surgeries to treat my pain?

If you can answer “yes” to one or more of the above questions, it is time to explore interventional treatment options with your Michigan Pain Consultants health provider. Interventional therapies are minimally-invasive, with low risk of complications, and can alleviate pain across a broad spectrum of problem conditions. Whether you have acute or chronic pain, interventional therapies may be “just what the doctor orders” to bring you some relief.

Contact Michigan Pain Consultants Today

Make an appointment for a new patient consultation with one of our board-certified pain management physicians. All of Michigan Pain Consultants’ physicians are Board Certified in Anesthesiology or Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and have advanced training and experience in Pain Medicine. You can begin first by visiting online at MyLifeBeyondPain.com, MichiganPain.com, or by calling them at (800) 281-3237.

Michigan Pain Consultants – Better Treatments. Better Life.

With six locations throughout West Michigan, Michigan Pain Consultants comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to pain care offers patients and providers renewed hope for relief from chronic pain. Chronic pain should be treated like other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, or congestive heart failure. Chronic pain requires chronic treatment. The goal of the treatment is to optimize the management of the pain, as opposed to curing the pain.