You Don’t Have to Live With Chronic Pain

The prevalence of chronic pain in the United States is nothing short of staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of adults report dealing with chronic pain, and more than 7% of adults report dealing with high-impact chronic pain.

Here at Interventional Pain Center in Worthington and Newark, Ohio, Sachida Manocha, MD, and our team fully comprehend the impact that ongoing and debilitating pain can have on your life, and we’re here to help. In this blog, we explore a few of the treatments we offer that help our patients find much-needed relief.

The challenge of treating chronic pain

If you stub your toe, you may feel pain for a few hours or even a few days. That’s acute pain. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is pain that lasts for three months or longer.

In many cases, chronic pain can be caused by a particular condition. And if the condition is treated and it eventually heals, the pain might cease. However, even if the condition heals, the pain might not stop.

This is because if pain persists for a long time, the pain itself can evolve into a primary or standalone condition as your nervous system continues to fire along familiar pain signaling pathways. This type of pain can be frustrating to deal with as there may be no underlying source that can be easily remedied.

Instead, you may be left to find ways to stop the constant pain signaling, which is where our pain management services can prove highly effective.

Options for treating chronic pain

There are a variety of ways to treat chronic pain. Here are some of the most effective treatments:

Intrathecal pain pump

With an intrathecal pain pump, we’re able to deliver pain medication directly into your spinal cord. In using this direct approach, not only can we more directly target your pain pathways, but we can also use a fraction — about 1/300th of the amount — of the medication that you would normally take orally.

To install the pain pump, we implant a catheter into the intrathecal space along your spine, which is attached to a pain pump that we implant in your abdomen.

Spinal cord stimulator

If you want to avoid drugs altogether, a spinal cord stimulator might be the answer. This neuromodulation system emits electrical impulses that interrupt the pain signals.

To implant the stimulator, we use fluoroscopy (live X-ray) to guide an electrode into the epidural space along your spine. We then connect the electrode to a small pulse generator, which we implant in your abdomen or buttocks. The pulse generator then sends signals to the electrode, which interrupts the pain signals.

Medical marijuana

Another approach for managing chronic pain is with medical marijuana. Many of the ingredients in cannabis can work with your body’s own endocannabinoid system, which regulates, among other things, pain.

Physical therapy

Another all-natural approach to pain management is physical therapy, which we recommend to anyone who’s struggling with ongoing pain. Even if you’re undergoing other treatments to control your pain, physical therapy can play a valuable role in strengthening your body and preserving your ability to function.

The bottom line is that we leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding a solution for chronic pain. To explore your options further, book an appointment online or over the phone with Interventional Pain Center today.