5 Aug 2024
Acute and chronic pain can literally turn anyone’s life upside down. The activities that they used to enjoy once might be impossible to do because of the excruciating pain. Apart from the activities, even spending time with family and friends might become intolerable for such people. Long-term and extreme pain can significantly decrease the overall quality of life. It also makes it a struggle to pass every day.
If you have been suffering from never-ending pain, and the conservative treatment methods have not worked for you, then worry not! There are literally a lot of ways to fight this nasty pain and hop back to your normal lifestyle. Interventional pain management can be a great alternative for such patients who have not experienced relief from any other procedures. So, in order to help you learn about your options, let us understand these techniques in detail, shall we?
This method uses pain-blocking strategies to help make everyday activities way less challenging. It efficiently restores the overall life quality. There are a lot of techniques that can be implemented as a part of the treatment process. They might include electrostimulation, surgery, implantable drug delivery systems, or nerve blocks.
Pain management treatments are helpful when the pain becomes unbearable with day-to-day activities. They are also perfect, especially when other treatment types are not successful in alleviating pain. So, in order to bid farewell to that unending pain, you must seek a genuine doctor who offers such services. In our opinion, the experts at Jersey Joint, Spine, & Regen are the best interventional pain management associates you can ever find.
There are a lot of comprehensive and interventional pain management treatments that you can choose from. Whatever treatment you opt for will be based on what suits your particular symptoms and conditions the most. This is because each type of treatment varies in regard to invasiveness and implementation. Let us look into some of the most practiced pain management techniques.
You must be aware that the pain signals travel down the nerves to the brain. These nerve blocks are responsible for interrupting these signals to offer pain relief. On the basis of your treatment plan, you will be given a certain type of nerve block. Some of them are minimally invasive and typically last for days or hours. Other nerve blocks need surgical processes and might be permanent or long-term. You can visit any reputed interventional pain management clinic to get this procedure done; in this way, you will find instant relief.
This process revolves around delivering pain relief drugs directly into the body. Infusions might be your best bet if you are seeking a solution for long-term use. There are different types of infusions that are used for different areas of the body. For instance, epidural infusions are delivered in the spinal cord. Similarly, for the subarachnoid space in the brain, Intrathecal Infusions are used.
Generally, injections include a steroid and a numbing agent. Commonly used injections include trigger joint injections, epidural steroid injections, and more. Every single one of these injections targets a different pain spot in the body to reduce inflammation and pain.
Radiofrequency ablation is an interventional spine and pain management that is used to treat neck and lower back pain. It works wonders to alleviate pain caused by arthritis. This technique utilizes a radio wave to generate an electrical current, which is then used to heat an area of nerve tissue. This procedure lowers the pain signals from that site. Thus, it proves to be wonderful in decreasing pain.
This procedure treats chronic pain by asserting gentle electrical currents to the main source of the pain. These electrical leads are injected close to the spinal column, while a small generator is planted in the hip or the abdomen. The function of this generator is to radiate electrical signals to the spinal column. As a result, it blocks the ability of the brain to observe pain.
Peripheral nerve field stimulation is linked to spinal cord stimulation (discussed just above), except that it is more localized on different parts of the body. The electrical leads are inserted as close to the source of the pain as possible and follow the exact same process as spinal cord stimulation.
A pain pump is also referred to as an intrathecal drug delivery system. It is a medical apparatus used to manage chronic pain. Delivering medication directly into the spinal fluid through a catheter offers targeted pain relief with tiny doses rather than oral medicines. This process helps to reduce systemic side effects and enhance the overall quality of patients’ lives. It is surgically implanted right under the skin, and the dosage can be refilled or adjusted as required. The pain pump works wonders for conditions such as cancer pain, chronic pain, and many types of nerve pain. You can visit any trusted interventional pain management & ortho-spine center to discuss your case and get a pain pump.
Nucleoplasty or percutaneous discectomy is a procedure to remove tissue from the spinal disc to relieve and decompress pressure. It is a minimally invasive technique that uses a needle to be inserted through the skin. A tiny part of disc material is shrunk or removed using different techniques, such as radiofrequency energy, mechanical extraction, or laser. This decreases pressure on the spinal nerves around, improving mobility and alleviating pain. This technique typically needs only local anesthesia, revolving a short recovery time, and has a lower risk of complications in contrast to traditional open surgery.
Generally, doctors start treating chronic pain with non-interventional procedures to offer relief prior to using more harsh treatments. The aim of non-interventional pain management is to get chronic pain relief without cutting or piercing the skin with surgical procedures or injections.
Some non-interventional procedures depend on pharmacological (drug) treatments. While medication can help relieve a lot of types of pain, you can also try medication-free, non-invasive (non-interventional) pain management techniques.
There are a lot of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments available for non interventional pain management. Let us have a brief look:
Based on the reason for your chronic pain, your medical expert might use pharmacological treatments only, or they might use it with a blend of other chronic pain treatment options. These medications include both prescription and over-the-counter medications, such as:
There are a bunch of perks to overcoming chronic pain without any medication. Besides not forgetting to take their medicines, they also avoid unpleasant side effects that over-the-counter and prescription medicines can cause. Some of these non-drug and non-invasive pain treatment options are:
Unlike an injection, acupuncture is the insertion of a sterilized, fine needle into the skin at particular points to assist the release of endorphins, the natural painkillers of the body, and trigger muscle tissues and nerves.
A biofeedback machine monitors blood pressure and heart rate to help with breathing and relaxation techniques. The patient learns to relax specific muscles to reduce the body’s response to pain. To get treated, you can visit any reputed non interventional pain management center.
Over-the-counter, homemade, and hot packs can decrease your pain. They are often used in combination with exercise.
Special hands-on techniques by a licensed chiropractor, such as the one from Jersey JSR, can help adjust your body by making minor adjustments. These tiny adjustments to the muscles, tendons, joints, and bones can go a long way to help you alleviate your pain.
These relaxation techniques can help relieve the pain by giving a sense of control over your body, which turns down the “fight or flight” response, which can often worsen chronic muscle pain and tension.
A great diet can help assist the digestive process, decrease the risk of heart disease, improve blood sugar levels, and manage weight. A perfectly balanced diet is vital for anyone living with chronic pain.
Physical exertion can help increase flexibility and strength, restore normal motion, and help produce natural endorphins (brain chemicals). This can help block pain signals in an efficient manner. Physical activity helps to disturb the cycle of pain and reduce mobility, which is found in many chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia and arthritis. You can either exercise on your own or visit any non interventional pain management clinic to get your personal exercise regimen.
A therapeutic and gentle massage can help ease any discomfort, tension, and pain by introducing a competing sensation to dominate the pain signals to the brain. Even gently rubbing hands, back, feet, or any part of the body in circulation motion can be helpful.
Physical therapy can help get rid of the pain. On the other hand, occupational therapy helps people live with injury, pain, or disability. Physical therapists at Jersey Joint, Spine, & Regen design personalized exercises to help improve or preserve mobility and strength. An occupational therapist teaches how to perform day-to-day activities to steer clear of the worsening of the excruciating pain.
Meeting with other people who are going through the same things can help you understand what you are going through. This can make you feel like you are not suffering from any condition all on your own. In order to meet such people, you can join support groups. The cherry on top? These groups often provide additional skills to deal with pain.
There are a handful of things that you can do to manage pain, such as:
In most cases, Acetaminophen is the first line of drug that is used to treat mild to moderate pain. This drug might be administered for pain that occurs due to headache, skin injury, or conditions that impact the bones and muscles. Acetaminophen is mostly prescribed to help deal with back pain and osteoarthritis.
There are a lot of interventions available to deal with pain, including analgesics (nonopioid and opioid) being the most effective to manage acute pain. The majority of people are afraid of using opioids because of the risk of addiction and other side effects it might have. However, these side effects can be managed effectively with medication.
Both medicine and physical therapy work in a different manner to help manage pain. There are advantages and disadvantages to every pain management route. While medicine actually helps to reduce pain and discomfort, physical therapy has a lot more goals, including enhancing strength and mobility, improving function, etc.
Every patient is unique in their journey, so their treatment has to be unique, too. Individual treatment options depend on a lot of different factors, such as the type of pain and the reason behind it. Sometimes, a blend of interventional pain management and non-interventional pain management treatments proves to be the best treatment. So, it is always a great idea to discuss these things with a medical expert once. At Jersey Joint, Spine, & Regen, you can uncover the root cause of your discomfort and treat it. So, book an appointment right now to get unhurried evaluations, cutting-edge technology, and the best treatment for your chronic pain.