Here at New York Pain Medicine Associate, our specialists want to help you relieve any ongoing pain that is impacting your day to day life. Whether the pain is minor or severe, our specialists are here for you.
If you suffer from chronic pain, you know how hard it can be to live with. Pain management is a branch of medical care that specializes in pain control, diagnosis, and treatment of acute and chronic pain conditions such as degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, sciatica, osteoarthritis, and more to improve your quality of life.
If you live with chronic pain, you know what a struggle it is to stay active, especially when you have debilitating back, neck, hip, shoulder, or knee pain. Pain management may help you if you have chronic pain. It can help reduce the pain of conditions like degenerative disc disease, arthritis, and other long-term illnesses. It can also help with injuries, like whiplash, herniated discs, or with feeling better after surgery and other painful medical treatments.
Pain management doctors have backgrounds in anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, or physiatry. Your provider may recommend injections or physical therapy as well as other minimally invasive procedures to mitigate your symptoms. Additionally, you may benefit from lifestyle changes and exercise. You’ll take an active role in your own treatment, and your feedback helps your care team create the best plan for you. Although some chronic pain cannot be fully cured, pain management can help reduce it and give you a plan to cope with your pain.
Muscle and ligament injuries often cause back pain, especially for active adults.
As you get older, age-related changes in your spine lead to conditions such as:
A herniated disc occurs when the gel-like center inside the disc bulges out through a weak spot or tear in the disc’s outer covering. When the center ruptures, its contents flow over the nearby nerves, which can cause inflammation and pain. You can develop a herniated disc due to an injury, but it is also frequently the result of disc degeneration, which can occur naturally with age.
As you get older, you could develop degenerative disc disease, a condition in which the vertebral discs start to dehydrate, becoming thinner and less resilient. As a result, the disc cannot properly perform its normal function of absorbing shock and supporting your spine. The disc gradually collapses, pinching the nerves and causing pain.
You can develop osteoarthritis in the facet joints between vertebrae. Over the years of daily wear and tear, the cartilage can begin to deteriorate. When this happens, bone rubs against bone, and bone spurs develop.
Chronic pain seldom responds well to conventional treatment, such as medication. When your pain persists despite medical treatment, the specialists at the University Pain and Spine Center offer a wide range of effective, minimally invasive treatment options.
These treatments represent some of the most frequently performed pain-relief procedures at New York Pain Medicine Associate:
While each treatment has a unique mechanism of action, many of them relieve pain using one of several techniques. They work to promote healing, reduce inflammation, trigger the regeneration of new tissues, decompress pinched spinal nerves, or stop the nerves from sending pain signals to your brain.
If you need relief from chronic pain, especially back or neck pain caused by a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, or osteoarthritis, call New York Pain Medicine Associate or book an appointment with us online.