Tag Archives: pain management doctors in arizona

10 Ways to Avoid Total Joint Replacement with Knee Arthritis

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Unfortunately there’s no way to cure arthritis despite the incredible advances in modern medicine. Therefore, tens of millions of Americans deal with moderate to severe knee arthritis that causes considerable pain on a daily basis.Knee Pain Treatment Phoenix

While there are surgical options for knee arthritis that include total joint replacement or a partial joint replacement, both of those surgeries have risks associated with them. If conservative treatment at a pain management clinic in Phoenix can help achieve pain relief and avoid surgery, then that is the optimal outcome.

Here are 10 current treatment methods to avoid the need for surgery.

1.  OTC Medication

The first method involves over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and Tylenol. These medications are simple and may be extremely effective at providing pain relief for those with mild to moderate knee arthritis. They should always be taken according to the manufacturer’s recommended dosing.

2. Topical Analgesics

The second excellent option are topical analgesic medications. There are a few of these available on the market, such as capsaicin along with lidocaine patches. While these do not fix the problem of arthritis, they can provide hours of relief.

3. TENS UnitPain Center Phoenix

The third option for relieving the pain is a TENS unit. These are small devices about the size of an iPod, that can be worn on a person’s belt with battery power.

A TENS unit has small foam pads that go over a person’s knee and emits slight electrical impulses through the skin. These impulses can change the way that the brain perceives pain signals and be helpful in relieving pain. They are low-risk, inexpensive and can be used intermittently throughout the day.

4. Physical Therapy

The fourth treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy provides strengthening of the muscles around the knee joint to relieve some of the pressure inside the joint and provide relief.

5. Offloading Knee Brace

Knee Doctor PhoenixTreatment number five is an offloading knee brace. These braces shift pressure in the knee to the area that is not as arthritic and therefore relieves pain. These braces are slightly bulky, but may delay the need for surgery for years.

6.  Narcotic Medications

Treatment number six is for narcotic pain medications. For periods of acute exacerbation where the pain is exceptional, opiate medications may prove to be extremely useful. Is it not a good idea for chronic pain relief due to arthritis, as the risks of opiates start to outweigh the benefits with potential addiction, tolerance and constipation.

7. Steroid Injections

Treatment number seven involves steroid injections into the knee. Steroid injections have Knee pain doctorbeen used for decades in the need to offer pain relief for arthritis. Cortisone is an anti-inflammatory and the relief may last for days to months at a time, with the injections being repeatable every few months. Cortisone does not help to fix the problem of arthritis, but may provide an excellent “Band-Aid” for months at a time.

8. Hyaluronic Acid Injections

Treatment number eight is hyaluronic acid injections. A common brand name for this is Synvisc, and the injection involves placing a synthetic hyaluronic acid which is very similar to what exists in the knee naturally as a lubricant. These injections are FDA approved and may provide over six months of pain relief.

9. Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

Treatment number nine is platelet rich plasma injections. These are regenerative medicine injections that use your own blood. The blood is spun down into a concentrate of platelets and growth factors, and injected into the arthritic knee. Recent studies are showing that it has great promise for relieving pain and increasing function along with preventing cartilage degradation.

10. Stem Cell InjectionsPain Relief Center Arizona

Treatment number 10 is stem cell injections. There are a couple different ways of injecting stem cells into the knee. The platelet rich plasma injections actually call in a significant amount of stem cells from the body itself. Other types of stem cell injections involve amniotic fluid derived stem cell-based treatments or those obtained from your own bone marrow.

There is a considerable amount of research that needs to be done to figure out which type of stem cell injection into the knee is most effective.

With these 10 treatment options, a lot of patients are able to avoid the need for knee replacement surgery. In addition, they may be able to at least delay the need for a few years as knee replacements are not designed to last forever.Pain Clinic Scottsdale

Arizona Pain Specialists has a team of Award Winning & Board Certified pain management doctors and chiropractors with four locations throughout the Valley. Arizona Pain accepts most major medical insurances, personal injury, Medicare, Medicaid, workers compensation and self pay.

Call (602) 507-6550 for scheduling with the best knee pain doctors in Arizona.

Treatment of Post-thoracotomy Pain Syndrome

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When an individual has a thoracotomy, usually the incision is fairly large. The approach is often used for scoliosis surgery, tumor removal, or a spinal reconstruction in the thoracic spinal column.

Unfortunately, the end result may often be a successful spinal reconstruction, but the

Post thoracotomy syndrome treatment

Typical size of a thoracotomy incision.

patient ends up with considerable pain from the incision. Post-thoracotomy pain syndrome as a result of a neuralgia emanating from the intercostal nerves around the surgical approach. Usually a rib is removed during the approach and there are intercostal nerves that are around this rib that get irritated.

In one sense it is almost like a reflex sympathetic dystrophy reaction, or even a neuroma where the end of the nerves become chronically irritated and painful. Studies have shown between five and 20% of those who undergo a thoracotomy procedure end up with chronic pain due to the incision and surgical approach.

Treatment for post thoracotomy pain syndrome may involve a combination of pain management therapies. Initially, the individual may take oral NSAIDS along with topically Pain Clinics Arizonaapplied pain medication. Neural modulating agents such as Lyrica and Neurontin may help, along with narcotic medications.

Interventional procedures include trigger point injections, intercostal nerve blocks, epidural steroid injections, radiofrequency nerve ablation or cryoablation.

Physical therapy may be helpful with electrical stimulation, ultrasound and nerve stimulation treatments.

One of the latest treatment attempts involves spinal cord stimulator implants. Spinal cord stimulation does not fix a chronic pain problem, rather, it can mask the individual’s pain and therefore allow the need for less narcotics and allow the patient to be more active.

Implants are permanently placed with electrodes into the spinal canal emitting slight electrical impulses to change the way that the brain perceives pain signals. Hopefully, a larger study will be able to show the true effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation for postthoracotomy pain syndrome, and so far anecdotal case reports have shown effectiveness for the problem.

If you or a loved one has undergone a thoracotomy procedure and are continuing Pain Management Arizonato have pain, help is available. The Board Certified pain doctors at Arizona Pain Specialists have significant experience with complicated pain management problems such as post thoracotomy pain.

Call (602) 507-6550 for one number scheduling for help.

An Overview of What Nerve Roots Do – from an AZ pain clinic

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The spinal cord runs from the top of the neck all the way down to the lumbar spine. It ends about the level of L1 (1st lumbar level) and then keeps going but is then referred to as the Pinched Nerve Treatmentdural sac.

At each spinal level, nerve roots come out on both the right and the left side. What exactly are the function of these nerve roots?

Nerve roots end up providing multiple functions that we all take for granted. That is, until something goes wrong and a problem presents itself.

Nerve roots come up from the spine and allow people to feel pain, hot and cold, and balance. Along with the sensation benefits, nerve roots also allow muscle function such as flexing the biceps or lifting up the leg and foot.

The third function of nerve roots is less commonly thought of, and that is the ability to feel the position of the body in space. An example would be to know that the arm is elevated,

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The quadriceps receives innervation from multiple nerve roots, so when one gets pinched it still works, just may be weak.

or to know where the leg is situated in the dark.

Typically, functions of a lot of nerve roots overlap. This means that for instance, the ability to lift up ones quadricep comes from multiple nerve roots innervating the muscles for this function. Therefore, if one of these nerve roots is compressed and unable to provide motor function, typically they will simply be weakness as the other muscles can somewhat compensate.

When a disc herniation occurs and a nerve root gets compressed, that in end of itself does not cause pain. But what it can do is spark up inflammation and that can lead to pain shooting down the person’s arm or leg as a result.

Phoenix pain clinicIn addition, compression of a nerve roots can lead to numbness, a pins and needle sensation along with muscle weakness as well.

Most of the time, if compression is removed from a nerve root, the pain associated with the inflammation will resolve. Interestingly, the numbness that has been experienced from the compressed nerve may never resolve.

If an individual has been having motor weakness from the nerve root compression, often times that will get better with the compression being resolved. If however, the compression has existed for over 3 to 6 months, it may not fully resolve either. What this means is that compressed nerve roots do have a potential to resolve, but not always.

If you are experiencing significant leg or arm pain and suspect you have a pinched nerve, help is available. Arizona Pain Specialists has an Award Winning team of Board Certified pain management doctors in Arizona that offer comprehensive treatment for pinched Arizona pain centersnerves.

These include Phoenix chiropractor treatment, pain medication management, spinal decompression therapy, interventional pain management, acupuncture,physical rehabilitation and more. Call today at (602) 507-6550 for scheduling.