Interventional Pain Management for Chronic Pain
Anyone who has ever experienced chronic pain knows firsthand how hard it can be to live with. Pain affects so much more than just your body – it can cast a shadow on your mental health, emotions, and social life. Activities and hobbies that you once enjoyed can suddenly become impossible to engage in because of the pain. You might also find yourself having less patience than you used to, or more prone to feeling down than before. In short, pain, especially chronic pain, can have a drastically negative impact on every aspect of your life.
Before seeing a doctor, most people try to deal with pain at home using a wide range of at-home remedies such as heating pads, ice packs, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units, pain relief creams, pain relievers (e.g. Tylenol, Advil, Aleve, etc.), and good old-fashioned rest. However, sometimes, the pain is simply too great to be managed at home without the help of a medical professional. By the time they’ve decided to see a doctor about their chronic pain, many patients have already lost hope of ever feeling good again. Luckily, in many cases, interventional pain management can help.
Interventional Pain Management & Chronic Pain
Interventional pain management is the practice of using advanced medicinal techniques to stop pain in its tracks. Known as pain-blocking techniques, the methods used in interventional pain management help to make your daily life a little easier. In many cases, interventional pain management techniques can restore a great deal of quality to your life. Some of these techniques include:
- Nerve blocks – a medication that is injected into the body to numb the nerves responsible for the pain
- Steroid injections – injections of corticosteroids that are used to manage pain in the back, neck, arms, or legs
- Radiofrequency ablation – a non-invasive technique that utilizes radio waves to heat and eradicates painful nerve tissue
- Spinal cord stimulation – a technique involving a surgically implanted device in the spine that sends electrical impulses into the spinal cord, thereby relieving pain
The Benefits of Seeing an Interventional Pain Management Specialist for Chronic Pain
There are many advantages of using interventional pain management for the relief of chronic pain:
- Interventional pain management techniques like injections and nerve blocks can often bring long-term relief for pain that lasts for months.
- The treatment process is often quick and provides pain relief very soon after being administered.
- Seeing an interventional pain management specialist can help you avoid undergoing surgery to deal with your pain.
- Similarly, interventional pain management techniques can help avoid the use of addictive pain relievers, such as opioids.
- Interventional pain management comes with fewer side effects in comparison to surgery or taking prescription pain medications.
- The vast majority of treatments available in interventional pain management are minimally or non-invasive.
- The treatments involved in interventional pain management are often described as quick and easy, with many patients experiencing very little discomfort during the procedure.
- Interventional pain management specialists often offer other services, like physical therapy to complement your road to recovery or rehabilitation.
- Interventional pain management takes a holistic view of the patient as a whole, taking into account the patient’s lifestyle as well as what they hope to accomplish.
- Interventional pain management specialists understand that pain is more than just an unpleasant physical sensation – they understand the emotional and mental toll that pain can have on a person’s life.
- Interventional pain management addresses pain at the source, targeting treatments exactly where the pain is coming from.
- Interventional pain management can often be used to address any type of chronic pain, whether the pain is in your spine, neck, knee, shoulder, or elsewhere.
Schedule a Consultation for Interventional Pain Management in Hudson County, NJ
No one should have to live with pain, especially chronic pain. If your life has been significantly affected by chronic pain and you don’t know what else to do, contact the pain management experts at The Spine & Sports Health Center. We take time to get to know our patients so we can make a correct diagnosis and create a personalized plan with the hopes of delivering real, long-lasting pain relief. Contact us today to schedule an appointment at one of our offices in Hoboken, Jersey City, or Bayonne.