Chronic pain is a very common issue, and it affects more than 20% of the population. Migraines, sciatic pain, frequent back or hip pain, and fibromyalgia can significantly reduce your quality of life and make it difficult for you to complete your everyday tasks. At Your Family Medical in Flower Mound, TX, we offer various pain management methods that can help reduce our patients’ discomfort.
Because every situation is different and pain occurs for a wide variety of reasons, we need to treat each patient as an individual and come up with a specific plan. This might include injections, surgery, or minimally invasive methods such as platelet-rich plasma. Read on to find out more about the various ways we can help you get rid of your pain and regain your health.
What Is Pain Management?
Almost everyone experiences significant pain at some point in their lives. In many cases, the issue is temporary and can be resolved within a few weeks or months. For example, many athletes suffer from muscle, tendon, or joint injuries, but they can go back to their regular activities once they’ve healed. As we grow older, the likelihood of a permanent issue, such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis, becomes greater.
No matter if you expect your pain to diminish over time or not, you should contact your local clinic if it’s affecting your day-to-day life. There are several temporary and permanent ways of managing pain. While some of them, such as nerve blocks, only last for a few days, others, like kyphoplasty, are designed to support the treatment area for many years to come.
Steroid Injections
If you have arthritis, joint inflammation, sciatic pain, or inflammatory bowel disease, you might be able to benefit from steroid injections. Depending on your individual needs and the type of pain you have, we can use a variety of substances such as hydrocortisone. These are manmade versions of your body’s hormones, and they work to reduce the pain, redness, and swelling in the treatment area.
Most commonly, we inject the chosen steroid into your joint, muscle, or spine, but we can also deliver it directly to the bloodstream if you have several inflammations. You might need a local anesthetic during this treatment, but general anesthesia won’t be required. After you’ve received your injection, you can go home straight away, and you should begin to feel the effects of treatment within several days.
Nerve Blocks
When you experience chronic discomfort, your nerves send a constant pain signal to your brain. Although there is often an underlying cause for this, it can’t always be addressed right away. While you’re waiting for your injury to heal or for the effects of a more long-term treatment to kick in, your practitioner can administer a nerve block, which is a type of medication that prevents or controls the pain.
There are various types of blocks available, and some of them require surgery. However, the ones we use at the clinic are usually injected into your treatment site, so they are minimally invasive. Most nerve blocks last between 12 to 36 hours, and you’ll have to come back to the clinic if you’re still experiencing acute pain after the effects of your first treatment have worn off.
Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty
Up to 25% of women and 4% of men over the age of 65 develop a condition called osteoporosis, which is also called bone brittleness. Often, this results in painful back problems, as the vertebrae are no longer able to hold themselves up and collapse as a result. To resolve this kind of vertebral compression, you’ll need surgery.
Kyphoplasty involves inserting a balloon into your affected vertebra and inflating it, so it once again assumes the desired shape. Later, the balloon is removed, and cement is put in its place. Vertebroplasty is very similar, but the cement is injected with needles, and the vertebra won’t assume its former shape anymore. Both operations are minimally invasive, so you won’t have to spend more than a day at the hospital.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections
As you can see whenever you have a cut or scrape, the body has the amazing capacity to heal itself. Your platelets, which are small blood cells, are one of the primary healing agents, and their power to release growth factors can be harnessed to treat various conditions. During PRP injections, your practitioner draws your blood and spins it in a centrifuge to extract the valuable plasma and platelets.
Then, the substance is injected into your treatment area, where the platelets will encourage your cells to rejuvenate. This treatment is a great option for anyone who has chronic pain caused by an injury. However, we also recommend PRP for patients with osteoarthritis and disc or joint disease. Because this pain management method is gentle and uses substances from your own body, almost anyone can take part.
Stem Cell Treatment
PRP is a regenerative medicine treatment that is autologous, which means that cells from the patient are used, and no donor is needed. But if this method isn’t possible, we can also use someone else’s cells and apply them to the treatment site. Stem cell therapy is a good option for people with injuries such as rotator cuff tears, back, neck, or joint pain, and tennis or golfer’s elbow.
What Is the Process Like?
Now you have a better idea of the types of treatments we offer at the clinic, you might wonder what happens when you get in touch. First, we will invite you to a consultation, so we can get to know your problem, your goals, and your medical history. This helps us determine which methods are safe for you and come up with a personalized treatment plan. Once we’ve decided how to address your issue, we can book you in for your first appointment.
Your Personalized Plan
Not every patient with chronic pain can be treated in the same way. Often, people come to see us because they have been injured while playing sports, completing household tasks, or exercising. In such a case, we will most likely attempt to reduce their pain and inflammation with steroid injections or nerve blocks.
However, we also see people who have permanent pain due to a deterioration of their tissues or a chronic condition. Often, they can benefit from more durable methods such as surgery or PRP treatment. During the initial consultation, we will work with you to come up with a viable treatment plan that supports you over the coming weeks and months.
Your Sessions at the Clinic
Since the majority of our pain management methods are based on injections, most of our patients will receive minimally invasive treatment. When you come to the clinic for your nerve blocker, PRP, or steroid injection, you can expect your session to take around 30 minutes to one hour, and you can leave straight away afterward. Your provider might apply numbing cream or a local anesthetic, which will take several hours to wear off.
If you’re having kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty, you’ll need to remain at the clinic for longer. Most patients stay with us overnight, since they need to be observed after their surgery. Despite this, the operations are considered minimally invasive, and most people can resume their normal activities within a few days. Your doctor will let you know which types of exercise you’ll need to avoid for several weeks.
Who Can Benefit from These Options?
As you can see, there is a range of treatments available at your local clinic. For this reason, almost everyone who has chronic pain can benefit from what we have to offer. Even if you’re not in perfect health and you have an underlying condition, you’ll be eligible for some of the less invasive options. The best way to find out more is to speak to a provider directly.
Get Rid of Debilitating Chronic Pain Now
Millions of people around the country suffer from chronic pain every day. But there’s no reason to let your condition impact your life. At your local clinic, you can find a personalized pain management solution that helps you get rid of your symptoms. Steroid injections, nerve blocks, kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, PRP injections, and stem cell treatment are only some of the ways your local providers can help you.
Get in touch with us now at Your Family Medical in Flower Mound, TX to book your first consultation with our chronic pain experts. We will help you find one or several treatments that are suited to your individual condition, your goals, and your preferences. Then, we can implement our plan over several months or years, adjusting it as needed.
