Patient Education

Pain in the neck may be a popular figure of speech, but many people know all too well that neck pain is a real injury that can be hard to treat and get rid of.  Almost everyone throughout their lifetime will experience some type of pain. Whether it is neck pain, back pain or muscle pain, all can be extremely debilitating and very difficult to live with.  

The day has come though to say enough is enough, to stop living with the pain and to start living life to the fullest again.  Physical Therapy is a great solution for all types of pain, no matter what your age or health condition.  There are numerous treatment and therapy options that your Physical Therapist can offer to you, which will assist in not only easing your pain but in some cases getting rid of it once and for all.

Feeling good and being pain-free is an essential part of living life.  No one has time for the pain, so speak to your Physical Therapist and say so long to pain once and for all.

Radiofrequency ablation is a treatment where radio waves are used to create heat and destroy a part of a nerve. This technique is most commonly used to treat pain that is originating in the facet joints of the spine. The procedure is used to destroy the end of the small nerves that provide sensation to the facet joints. Once the nerve is destroyed, you should no longer feel the pain from the worn out, painful facet joints. This procedure is also sometimes called a RFA (which is short for radiofrequency ablation), a rhizotomy, or a neurotomy.

Piriformis muscle injections are commonly used to determine what is causing buttock and sciatica type pain. Piriformis muscle injections are both diagnostic injections and therapeutic injections, meaning that they can both help your health care professional determine the cause of your pain and may also provide you with relief from the pain. These injections work to eliminate pain temporarily by paralyzing the piriformis muscle and stopping spasm in the muscle. If the piriformis muscle is injected and your pain goes away for several days, then it is very likely that a portion of your pain is caused by piriformis syndrome. Once you and your health care professional know what structure is causing your pain, you can begin to explore options for treating the condition.

Epidural steroid injections (ESI) are commonly used to control back and leg pain from many different causes. These injections control pain by reducing inflammation and swelling. They do not fully cure any of the injuries they are commonly used for, but they can control the symptoms for prolonged periods of time. In many cases, the ESI is used to control the symptoms so that you can participate in a Physical Therapy program, become more active, and be better able to control your chronic symptoms.

When dealing with a chronic painful spine condition pain specialists commonly use facet joint injections.  These injections are primarily diagnostic injections, meaning that they help your doctor determine the cause of your back pain but they can also help to treat the painful condition, although they may not provide you with any long-term relief. Facet joint injections eliminate pain temporarily by filling the facet joint with an anesthetic medication that numbs the joint, the ligaments, and the joint capsule around the facet joint. If the facet joint is injected and your pain goes away for several hours, then it indicates to your doctor that it is very likely the joint or its closely related tissues that are causing your pain. Once you and your doctor know what structure is causing your pain, you can begin to explore options for treating the condition.

A spinal cord stimulator, also called a dorsal column stimulator, is an implanted electronic device used to help treat chronic pain. These devices have been in use for the treatment of pain for over 30 years and they continue to improve. The area of medical science responsible for developing these devices is called neuromodulation.

The spinal cord stimulator will not cure your pain, but you should see a reduction in your pain of 50 percent or more if the stimulator procedure is successful. The goal of the spinal cord stimulator is to allow you to be more active, have less pain, and take less pain medication.

Electrical nerve stimulation is a treatment for pain that can be used for acute pain (e.g., during labor or after surgery) or for chronic pain (e.g., low back pain). It is a form of electrical energy sent in various waveforms to the nerves. When it is delivered through electrodes or patches placed on the skin, it is called transcutaneous (meaning through the skin) electrical nerve stimulation or TENS for short.

TENS is a noninvasive way to override or block signals from the nerves to the spinal cord and brain. Pain messages may be altered enough to provide temporary or even long-lasting pain relief. In addition to controlling pain, this type of electrical stimulation can also improve local circulation and reduce or eliminate muscle spasm.