Trending Pain Treatments In 2020

It’s a new year, new decade, and time to address your pain in a safe and effective manner. At Integrated Pain Consultants, leading pain management doctors like Dr. Seth, Dr. Zaveri and their team are dedicated to providing patients with pain solutions that work for their unique lifestyle. Everyone is now aware of the opioid epidemic as well as the risks of surgery, which is why a lot of people are looking for alternative solutions for their pain. Whether your pain is acute or chronic, know that there are treatment options available that don’t have the same kinds of risks as prescription medications or surgical interventions.

One of the most popular treatments in 2020 is injections. What if injections—or even a single injection—could provide pain relief that gives you back your life? It’s possible, and we offer a wide variety of injection treatments. Injections can address many types of pain, and you might be surprised that a simple “shot” might be all you need for an immediate correct diagnosis or lasting pain relief.

Give Pain Management Injections a Shot in 2020

We offer many types of injections for pain management, including epidural steroid injections. These injections can do much more than make birthing labor manageable. An “epidural” can be safely used on the back, neck, and even for nerve pain. Sometimes this shot is all a patient needs to get back to their daily activities, while sometimes it’s used along with other types of rehabilitation like physical therapy. Epidural injections can reduce pain (usually in the back/neck and legs), optimize mobility and function, reduce inflammatory chemicals causing pain, minimize your need for pain medication, and even help delay or avoid surgery.

Joint injections (including epidurals) can help minimize joint pain and stiffness caused by irritation or inflammation. It can be helpful for those suffering from chronic or acute pain that leads to mobility issues. We offer many types of joint injections for the knees, ankles, shoulders, hips, and other affected joints. An ultrasound machine shows your pain management doctor the inner layers of the joint being treated, and in addition to epidurals you might be a good candidate for facet joint injections, corticosteroid injections, and hyaluronic acid injections (also known as viscosupplemental injections) depending on your pain and location.

Viscosupplementation is used to treat osteoarthritis in the knee and other joints when patients haven’t responded to other, less invasive treatments. Hyaluronic acid is a thick gel made of a protein that already naturally occurs in the body. Sometimes it can be an alternative to getting knee surgery while other patients use the injection to get relief from osteoarthritis or injury-caused knee pain. It supplements the lost hyaluronic acid in the joint to increase lubrication. This leads to better movement and slows down the progression of arthritis. It’s most often injected in the knee, but can also be used in the hip and shoulder for osteoarthritis treatment, or even in the rotator cuff.

Medial branch blocks and facet injections are a fantastic option to treat many patients who have neck or back pain. These injections are inserted at the facet joints to minimize irritation and inflammation from arthritis. It places a steroid medication at the source of the pain to numb the joint, which effectively blocks the pain. Facet joints are found in the spine and help with range of motion and stability. However, when there’s arthritis or a back injury, pain can ensue. Either a facet block or an injection to the medial branch nerve is given, and both injections can lead to immediate pain relief and better function. These injections can be used for axial back pain, spinal arthritis, lumbar degenerative disc disease, cervical degenerative disc disease, facet arthritis or facet syndrome, and other common joint ailments.

RFA and Chiropractic Care for Pain Management

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is also trending in 2020. This minimally invasive treatment can help with low back pain and neck pain, as well as pain from degeneration of joints caused by arthritis. It works by sending an electrical current from a radio wave to the source of the pain, heating up the nerve tissue. This results in fewer pain signals and immediate relief. All that’s needed is a local anesthetic, mild sedation, and 30 minutes. RFA can provide longer lasting relief than steroid injections and can improve range of motion while reducing pain medication dependency.

Chiropractic care by Dr. Weinberg has been available at our clinic since 2018 and it’s another excellent option (or addition) for pain caused by spinal damage or issues. If you’d like to learn more about all the 2020 trending pain management treatments at Integrated Pain Consultants, call our office at (480) 626-2552.