Alternative Methods to Pills: Minimally Invasive Interventional Procedures

25.3 million American adults suffer from pain daily, often for 3 months, and close to 40 million adults experience severe levels of pain, causing a debilitating reduction in the quality of life. To treat pain, people often resort to medication. As such opioid misuse is one of the biggest health issues in America today. 

Over 130 people in the United States overdose on opioids every day. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total “economic burden” of prescription alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement. 

Yet, we cannot deny that 25.3- 40million American adults need relief from pain. So, where is the way forward? Is there another way that helps patients become free from pain but doesn’t involve addiction to opioids, which causes opioid misuse? Yes, there is, an array of interventional procedures. 

These minimally invasive interventional procedures may be the alternatives you need, ensuring that you live a good quality of life, free from constant, intractable pain. Genesis Wellness Clinic can help you get on the right path when it comes to interventional pain management. Our specialized pain doctors use a vast array of therapies to diagnose, reduce, and if possible, completely relieve your pain. 

Genesis Wellness Clinic’s goal is to get you and our patients back to living their best, active lives, as quickly as possible. Our doctors and specialists are available to provide the best treatment plans suitable for your needs and condition. Some interventional pain management treatments include: 

• Epidural steroid injections: used to reduce pain and inflammation in the nerve roots of the spine. It targets the irritated spinal nerve root that causes the pain in the rest of your body. This allows you to experience a significant reduction in pain and decreases inflammation. The procedure is fairly quick; however, you might need to come back a few times to get the optimal pain reduction.
• Facet joint injections and medial branch blocks: typically used to diagnose the location and cause of the pain. Facet joint injections shouldn’t be used as a long-term solution to chronic pain but rather it is used to help you work through your recovery.
• Sacroiliac injections: injected directly into the sacroiliac joint, located at the bottom of the spine. Since it’s a combination of local anesthetic and steroid, the anesthetic kicks in fast, providing relief that can last a couple of hours. However, once the anesthetic wears off, your pain will return until the steroid begins working 24-48 hours later. So, do not worry if this happens. And, if you are allergic to shellfish or X-ray dye, make sure you tell your doctor! 
• Radiofrequency ablation: uses radio waves to create electrical currents that are delivered to selected nerve tissues, disabling them, and reducing your pain. It is used mostly to treat neck and back pain. 
• Viscosupplementation (knee Injections): used to treat osteoarthritis and other knee arthritis. A thick, lubricating fluid, hyaluronate, is injected into your knee joint. Since there is no cure for osteoarthritis, the hyaluronate increases your synovial fluid’s lubrication abilities, improving your mobility, and reducing your pain. Please note that we only recommend and provide viscosupplementation to patients who have failed to improve with other non-surgical treatments. Before trying viscosupplementation, we recommend you try other treatment options. 
• Nerve blocks: used to turn off pain signals along with a particular distribution of nerves. The best-known nerve block is the epidural given to women during childbirth. The procedure numbs the area causing your pain and can also relieve inflammation. In extreme cases, nerve blocks can be used to cut-off the nerve completely from the rest of the nervous system. Nerve blocks offer immediate pain relief but are often a short-term fix. The pain returns and you will need to repeat the procedure over and over.

There are a couple more minimally invasive interventional procedures. To find out which treatment will work best for your condition, call us today at (813) 549-7465. Let’s schedule you an appointment and work together to relieve your pain and help you regain your healthy active life. 

Pain should not dictate how you live your life. Let Genesis Wellness Clinic get you back on the right path to a pain-managed future. We want you to feel good the right way.