Tag Archives: az pain doctor

How Often is Low Back Pain Not Coming from the Low Back?

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Low back pain will affect 90% of individuals at some point in life. It is pretty much inevitable (like taxes) that it will occur, and fortunately most of the time it resolves uneventfully.AZ pain clinics

About 5 to 10% of low back pain becomes chronic in nature. When a person is experiencing chronic low back pain, how often is an area outside the low back the source of that pain?

Several studies have looked at this question, and the answer is approximately 25% of the time. In one out of every four individuals dealing with chronic low back pain, either the hip or the sacroiliac joint is the actual source of the pain. To be fair, it may be a situation where both the low back and hip for SI joint are causing the pain in combination.

In the work up for low back pain, there are very good ways of delineating where the pain is Pain clinic Scottsdalecoming from. Unfortunately, studies have also shown that slightly over 10% of the time sources of pain cannot be figured out. X-rays of a person’s hip joint can show whether moderate to severe arthritis is present. The doctor can see joint narrowing, bone spurs, and other evidence of arthritis on the films. Along with this, physical examination can tell whether the person has tenderness over the hip joint, pain with range of motion of the hip, and also whether or not there is pain outside the hip joint or down the side of the thigh.

It may be that an injection of numbing medicine into the hip joint will become necessary to see how much pain relief is achieved in the hip and low back. If an individual becomes pain-free after this diagnostic treatment, the answer is fairly obvious. The reason a hip problem can cause low back pain is if significant arthritis is present a person may be overcompensating when they walk and back pain may result.

The sacroiliac joint is located below the low back on both the right and left side of where the pelvis meets up with the sacrum. These joints contain cartilage just like others throughout the body and maintain a small amount of motion at 2 to 4 mm in each Pain doctors in Phoenixdirection. When arthritis occurs and cartilage is lost, inflammation may ensue and a person experiences pain that waxes and wanes.

There are multiple ways of telling if the SI joint pain is the source of the low back discomfort. Physical examination with provocative maneuvers can help reproduce the pain.

The best way to tell if a person’s SI joint pain is causing the back pain is to perform a diagnostic injection of numbing medicine into and around the joint. If the back pain is substantially relieved, then the SI joint may be the generator of the pain. Diagnostic injections may work simply for a few days, or it may help for months.

The bottom line with studies looking at where low back pain is coming from show that in one fourth of individuals, the pain is coming from somewhere else. This should be kept in Pain doctors in Arizonamind if low back pain specific treatments are being performed and inadequate relief is being achieved. It may be that additional treatment efforts should be focused on the hip or the SI joint to truly help relieve the persons low back discomfort.

If you are having back, hip, or SI joint area pain and live in Arizona, then the Board Certified, Fellowship trained pain doctors at Arizona Pain Specialists can help you. At these pain clinics in Arizona, the AZ pain doctors are diligent about locating the source of the pain and reducing or eliminating it.

The pain clinics in Phoenix and surrounding areas accept most major health insurance along with Medicare, Medicaid, AHCCCS, Personal Injury, Worker’s Compensation and self pay.

You do not have to live in pain as your status quo. Call Arizona Pain to schedule at a location near you today – (602) 507-6550.

Eight Ways to Get Sciatica Pain Under Control

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At any one point in time, 1% of Americans are suffering from sciatica due to a herniated sciatica treatmentdisc. The pain can feel like an electrical sensation going down the leg or possibly a pins and needles sensation.

Thankfully, most individuals will not end up needing surgery for sciatica with the modern Arizona pain management techniques that are available. Here are ten ways modern pain clinics in Arizona can alleviate your discomfort and get you back on your feet.

  1. Anti-inflammatory Medication
  2. Short term Narcotics
  3. Muscle Relaxers and Neurogenic medication
  4. Epidural Steroid Injections
  5. Chiropractic Manipulations
  6. Physical Therapy
  7. Spinal Decompression Therapy
  8. TENS Units

The initial treatment that can help significantly is over the counter medications such as anti-inflammatory medication and Tylenol. No prescription is required for medications like ibuprofen or naproxen. These can help with mild to moderate pain, and should always be taken according to manufacturer’s recommendations.

Arizona pain doctors

Herniated disc pinching a nerve.

An Arizona pain doctor can prescribe an intense anti-inflammatory medication known as a Medrol Dose Pak. This consists of a “burst” of prednisone medication which provides an intense systemic anti-inflammatory for a few days, then the medication tapers off. The medication needs to be taken completely, and while taking it additional anti-inflammatories should not be taken as well. The pain relief can be tremendous.

A Phoenix pain doctor may prescribe short term narcotics for pain relief. Along with some of the other treatments here, the opiate medications can make it so that a person can ambulate and function better.  Over the short term, there is an extremely low risk of addiction. In the long term, narcotics are a poor treatment option as the risks start to outweigh the benefits.

Muscle relaxers such as Valium may help significantly, as the back often spasms as a protective mechanism. Neurogenic medications such as Lyrica may alleviate sciatica pain. It’s unclear how the medication works, but the risks of the medication are low.

Chiropractic manipulations may take some pressure off of the compressed nerve. Often Chandler chiropractor doctors provide additional pain relief treatments like electrical Chiropractor Chandler AZstimulation, ultrasound and massage therapy. Some of the treatments overlap with physical therapy, which provide stretching and strengthening. The chiropractic and PT may help as initial treatment, or it may be necessary to have injections beforehand to reduce the intense pain.

The mainstay of treatment for sciatica by pain management doctors in Arizona is epidural steroid injections. These are performed as an outpatient, and may need to be done as a series of three injections. The efficacy of these injections has been shown to be over 80% for pain relief.

Spinal decompression therapy is a non-invasive, revolutionary treatment that involves intermittent spinal traction. It is typically overseen by chiropractic doctors who prescribe approximately 20 sessions of about 30 minutes each. Sciatica pain is often relieved substantially. The treatment does not “suck back in” the herniated disc, but it can decompress the nerve root from being pinched.

TENS unit A TENS unit is a small device about the size of an iPod that fits on a patient’s belt. A TENS unit stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and involves slight electrical impulses going through foam pads placed over the low back. These electrical impulses can alter the way the brain perceives pain signals. They can decrease the amount of narcotic medications necessary for pain relief.

Overall, less then 5% of those with sciatica will end up needing surgery due to the pain relief provided by these treatments. They do not “fix” the problem, but can provide a proverbial “band-aid” while the piece of disc pushing on the nerve root disintegrates.

In Arizona, the best pain clinic is Arizona Pain Specialists. They have multiple AZ pain clinics throughout the Valley including a Scottsdale pain clinic, Chandler pain clinic and Glendale pain clinic. Patients are seen from all over the Valley and most insurance plans are accepted.

For one number scheduling, call (602) 507-6550.

Chronic Pain With Its Costs Is an Epidemic in the US

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The magnitude and cost of pain in the US is incredible. One third of the country, or 116 million individuals, are experiencing some type of chronic pain.

The breakdown from the survey showed that 28% of this pain was in the low back, and 20% was in the knees. Headaches and migraines comprised 16% with neck pain at 15%. The last 20% was distributed fairly evenly between shoulder, finger, and hip pain.

Vicodin is the most commonly prescribed drug in the US, and it is a narcotic. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy 2011, prescriptions rose 50% from 2000 to 2009, while the doses prescribed rose 400% from 1997 to 2007. Amazingly, 20% of doctor visits in the US involve an opioid prescription, with 4 million Americans a year being prescribed a long acting opioid such as Oxycontin ER or Morphine ER.

In the 5 years from 2005 to 2010, ER visits due to prescription drug overdose rose 500%, with fatalities rising from 3000 in 1997 to 12000 in 1997 to over 20,000 today.
At this point, opioid pain reliever abuse is the second leading cause of accidental death in the US behind car crashes.

At this point, 38 states have prescription registry systems in the US including Arizona. AZ Pain Clinics can use it to find out if patients are cheating the system. This allows doctors to monitor patients and see if other doctors are prescribing narcotics. “Doctor shopping” may allow patients to receive narcotics from multiple sources, which is great for them if they are selling the medications or trading them to support an illicit drug habit.
A national registry system was passed by Congress and signed by President George Bush into law in 2005. Unfortunately, budgetary issues have prevented full implementation of the system due to lack of funding.

Other methods doctors have for monitoring patients include urine and oral drug screening, which can be very accurate and catch patient treatment transgressions. Patients may skip their narcotic prescriptions for days and then take it just prior to their appointment, but there are intricacies to the test results which can catch their “secret plan.”

Chronic pain costs between $550 billion to $635 billion in medical bills and lost productivity each year. Does the term “epidemic” apply? Absolutely it does.

Want to get off drugs? Have back, neck, arm, or leg pain? Call Preferred Pain Center today, the most comprehensive Az Pain Clinic in existence!

Preferred Pain offers phoenix chiropractic, phoenix pain doctors, phoenix physical therapy, spinal decompression therapy, and manipulation under anesthesia.

(602) 507-6550 – Ask about our 24 Hour Guarantee.