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Treatment Information
Note that consultation with your doctor at Pain
& Spine is required before any diagnosis or
treatment recommendation are given. Treatment information given
on this website is for educational purposes only. Click on
each service to learn more.
Selecting Pain Treatments
Because chronic pain is so complex, there are often multiple treatment
goals. These goals may include more comfort (being "pain-free" is often not
possible when pain has become chronic), better physical functioning, improved
coping and less distress, getting back to work, helping the family cope, and
other positive outcomes. To accomplish these goals, chronic pain often is best
managed using what is called a "multimodality" approach.
The patient's response to therapies may be influenced by age, gender, race or
ethnicity, cultural beliefs, or any of a variety of physical, emotional,
social, family, occupational, and spiritual circumstances. Treatments for pain
must be tailored to the individual, based on each person's unique condition.
A multimodality approach to chronic pain includes a combination of therapies
selected from eight broad categories:
- drug therapies
- psychological therapies
- rehabilitative therapies
- anesthesiological therapies
- neurostimulatory therapies
- surgical therapies
- lifestyle changes
- complementary and alternative medicine therapies
In many cases, a multimodality strategy requires the
involvement of several types of health care professionals -the
interdisciplinary team.
Effective pain management is therefore collaborative in nature, involving good
communication among the patient, family, and the practitioners involved in the
care. A sense of partnership in trying to find the best therapeutic approach
promotes the most creative, and ultimately the most effective, approaches.
Patient-practitioner partnership can maximize the patient's involvement and
sense of control in the healing process. Patients must feel empowered to seek
the best care and to act in a way that uses their own resources in the service
of health. If an interdisciplinary team of practitioners is involved in
developing a multimodality approach, the members must communicate freely to
ensure the appropriate targeting of therapy. Family communication helps
promote positive patterns within the family and may reduce the stress caused
by prolonged pain and impaired function.
From this perspective, Integrative Pain Therapy is a natural extension of
state-of-the-art conventional pain management.
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Non Surgical treatments
Management of Idiopathic (Adolescent) Scoliosis
When an adolescent is identified with scoliosis, management
should be guided by informed choices that include the patient,
family members, and the health care provider.
Lumbar Facet Joint Injection
A facet joint injection serves several purposes including
immediate pain relief that helps to confirm or deny the spinal
joint as the pain source.
What is a Physiatrist?
A physiatrist is a medical doctor with specialized training in
physical medicine, rehabilitation, and pain medicine.
Chiropractic Care and Back Pain: Non-Invasive Treatment
for Bulging, Ruptured, or Herniated Discs (Slipped Discs)
In treating low back "slipped discs", most spine experts agree
that conservative care should be tried before surgery is
considered, except in severe cases.
Medication and Treatment of Acute Low Back Pain
There are several different types of medications used to treat
back pain.
An understanding of functional anatomy, biomechanics and
kinesiology (study of body movement) can help in localizing
the patient's pain generators which include the bone, disc,
tendon, muscle, ligament, and nerve. The underlying process
can be biomechanical, inflammatory or infectious, neoplastic
(i.e. tumor), or psychological in nature.
These guide the physician toward the proper initial treatment
of the low back problem, including the most appropriate choice
of medications prescribed. By applying the principles of
medication use in other musculoskeletal disorders, we can more
strategically plan an efficacious use of pharmacological
agents.
Surgical treatments
Spondylolisthesis; Surgical Procedures, Preparation, and
Postoperative Care
Intraoperative procedures : During surgery you will be
cared for by operating room nurses, anesthesia staff, and your
surgical team. A team that works together often doing this
type of surgery will provide you with the safest
intraoperative experience.
Immediate postoperative care: When you awaken, you will
feel a little cold, very sleepy and confused, and you may have
some nausea (from the anesthesia) and will probably have pain.
Your nurse will be right there to help you and give you the
medications that you need. There will be much activity around
you and the nurses will also be checking you frequently for
motion and sensation in your arms and legs, blood pressure,
pulse, and temperature.
Long-term care after surgery: After surgery for
spondylolisthesis it may be necessary to change some of your
activities. Those work or recreational activities that cause
stress to your spine will need to be avoided. Your physician
will be able to discuss job and recreational restrictions with
you.
Surgical Management of Thoracolumbar Deformity in
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis is a form of chronic arthritis. In
severe cases, a surgical procedure called an osteotomy, which
involves the removal and/or resection of bone is utilized to
correct the deformity.
Spine Specialists On-Call: Spinal Nerve Compression and
Unilateral Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)
The goal of lumbar spine surgery typically involves removing
pressure off spinal nerves, a procedure called nerve
decompression.
Thoracosopy in the Treatment of Scoliosis
New thoracoscopy treatments for scoliosis demonstrate a major
technological step forward in the treatment of Scoliosis. In
this procedure, highly skilled spinal surgeons approach from
the side of the chest wall for maximum access.
Spinal Instrumentation and Fusion
Spinal instrumentation is a generic term for surgical
procedures that incorporate the use of screws, rods, cages,
plates, and/or cylinders.
Alternative treatments
Arthritis: Alternative Treatments
A few common alternative treatments that many people have
found to be helpful for spinal arthritis. Be wary of
treatments that make claims that seem unrealistic, such as a
complete cure or 100% guarantee pain relief.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Back Pain
Using the model of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the treatment
of low back pain is explored.
Acupuncture: What is it?
Acupuncture is a 5000-year-old Chinese art of healing
that involves the insertion of very fine, sterile, disposable
needles into specific parts of the body. This technique
stimulates and activates the body's immune and healing
systems.
For Pain Management info,
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