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Dr. Martinez Specializes In Epidural Steroid Injections In Haltom City Texas
PAIN MANAGEMENT FAQS
At your first visit we will review your past medical, surgical, social history. How long you’ve dealt with your discomfort, what quality, character, chronicity best describes your discomfort. What has been done in the past and what studies have been done before to evaluate your pain. We will discuss the need for further studies or procedural options based on what studies you have already done.
I generally try to avoid medications as much as possible since most people are already on lots of medication. However, if needed I will add medications based on the type of your pain and what has been tried in the past. If, at all possible, we will remain non-narcotic since I think ethically that’s the best option in the long run.
You should see a double boarded pain physician taking note that their board certifications are back by the American Board of Medical Specialties.
There is no single silver bullet for nerve pain. In general, it takes careful consideration of the cause of the pain, patient’s medical conditions, and goals for therapy to decide on what medication would be best.
We are considered sub-specialists. I have completed both medical school, intern year, residency, fellowship, and double board certified to be comfortable treating a wide range of pain conditions.
Yes, we can help diagnose fibromyalgia but generally after ruling out other medical conditions and after careful screening of a patient to arrive at this diagnosis of exclusion.
Chronic pain is pain that persists for greater than 3 months.
You have somatic, visceral, neuropathic, and central pain.
Most commonly it’s neuropathic.
Radiating pain means pain that begins in one spot and projects to another location.
You can apply heating pads, stretch, or manual massage for relief.
Visceral pain is pain that is hard to pinpoint generally within the abdomen or chest.
Generally, if your pain is recent, specific injury, achy, dull and you are younger and athletic pain tends to be muscular in nature. If you feel pain radiating down into an extremity from your spine then it could be due to a nerve compression.
Categories of back pain can be degenerative, muscular, or nerve related
It’s variable depending on the cause some patients feel better when active and others need to rest before being active again in short spurts.
It could be getting worse due to continued degenerative wear that may require a physician’s evaluation.
Generally anything that has lasted more than a few weeks could merit a visit to at least your PCP’s office.
There have been some long-term conditions described in COVID but it’s such a new disease process there are very few studies that describe consistent pathology due to an infection with the virus.
If your back pain has not gotten better with rest, heating pads, massage, chiropractic, physical therapy, or anti-inflammatories then you should schedule an appt with a pain physician for evaluation with more advanced imaging and possible interventions.
For acute back pain yes but for chronic back pain it’s best to see a pain physician. You are being evaluated by a physician who is not going to be able to provide you with minimally interventional approaches for alleviating your back pain. You also run the risk of being given the band-aid of narcotics instead of looking for a cause and a conservative route to alleviate your discomfort.
There generally are no short cuts when it comes to improving back pain. The best example of this is that chronic back pain is not something that sprouted up overnight so you should not expect pain to disappear overnight either. A lot of the times it takes multiple parts of a care team to get you on the path to feeling better including Physical therapy, chiropractic, pain management, or spine surgeons.
You should make time to be evaluated by a pain physician so that you can get treatment.
Using a team approach allows you to maintain a meaningful life. This can include physical therapy, Interventional pain, chiropractic, massage therapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy. This can include modification of work duties to include rest, standing desks, light duty, or possible transitioning to other duties.
Some of the latest therapies can include interspinous implants that can be minimally invasive compared to spine surgery, intracept procedure to ablate the basivertebral nerve, high frequency spinal cord stimulator, peripheral stimulation utilizing high frequency.
3 causes of lower back pain can be degenerative changes, muscular, or nerve related.
If it’s sudden onset and due to trauma, you should go to the ER since they will be able to perform advanced imaging such as CT scan or MRI if necessary and consult specialists. However, if you can make do with lesser care such as ibuprofen, Naprosyn, resting, stretching, and heating pads then schedule an appt with your pain specialist.
You should see a pain specialist when you’ve attempted more conservative therapy such as NSAID therapy, chiropractic, physical therapy, or massage therapy for a few weeks with no improvement.
If you’ve attempted to deal with your chronic pain with your PCP and your condition continues to impair your quality of life or your ability to engage in your necessary life tasks, then you should see a physician for your chronic pain.
Combining a thorough history, physical exam, imaging, diagnostic tests will allow your physician to be able to tell if your back hurts and whats a possible cause.
Interventional pain physicians can help treat nerve pain by performing epidural injections which can improve discomfort caused by nerve root compression. Neurosurgeons can also assist by surgically decompressing the area that responds to selective nerve root blocks. Working together as a team has its benefits since it allows us to provide timely care for your condition and being able to provide multi-specialty input to provide optimal care for your recovery.
