Pain Management at GBMC

What Is Pain?

Pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong. It can be steady, throbbing, stabbing, aching, pinching, or described in many other ways. Sometimes, it’s just a nuisance, like a mild headache. Other times it can be debilitating. 

Pain can bring about other physical symptoms, like nausea, dizziness, weakness, or drowsiness. It can cause emotional effects like anger, depression, mood swings or irritability. Perhaps most significantly, it can change your lifestyle and impact your job, relationships, and independence.

Pain Classifications

Pain is classified as either acute or chronic. Acute pain is usually severe and short-lived and is often a signal that your body has been injured. Chronic pain can range from mild to severe, is present for long periods of time, and is often the result of a disease that may require ongoing treatment. 
 

Treatment Options

Currently, the best way to treat the pain is to manage the symptoms. If the source of your pain can’t be treated, or isn’t known, our pain management specialist can offer options for pain control. 

We provide the following interventional treatments for the management of pain: 

Spinal & Epidural Injections (for back, neck, and radiating nerve pain)

• Epidural steroid injections (interlaminar, transforaminal, and caudal)
• Selective nerve root blocks
• Epidural blood patch (for spinal headaches)
• Caudal lysis of adhesions (for scar tissue around spinal nerves)

Facet & Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Treatments (for arthritis-related spine and pelvic pain)

• Facet joint injections and medial branch blocks
• Radiofrequency ablation to calm pain-signaling nerves (spine, knee, SI joint, and shoulder)
• SI joint injections and minimally invasive SI joint fusion

Nerve Blocks & Nerve Pain Treatments (for the head, face, trunk, pelvis, and limbs)

• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Occipital, trigeminal, and sphenopalatine (head and face) nerve blocks
• Sympathetic nerve blocks and neurolysis (for complex regional pain syndrome and certain cancer-related pain)
• Ultrasound-guided nerve hydrodissection

Spine Procedures for Fractures & Stenosis (minimally invasive)

• Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty (for spinal compression fractures)
• Basivertebral nerve ablation (for chronic low back pain)
• Minimally invasive lumbar decompression and interspinous spacers (for spinal stenosis)
• Spinal tumor ablation

Implantable & Advanced Therapies (for pain that hasn't responded to other treatments)

• Spinal cord stimulation (including closed-loop systems)
• Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation
• Peripheral nerve stimulation
• Restorative neurostimulation (for chronic low back pain)
• Intrathecal pain pumps

Joint, Muscle & Regenerative Care

• Joint injections (hip, knee, shoulder, SI
• Bursa and trigger point injections
• Viscosupplementation (lubricating injections for arthritic joints)
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections
• Percutaneous tenotomy (for chronic tendon pain)

Other Specialized Treatments

• Botulinum toxin (Botox) for chronic migraine, cervical dystonia, and thoracic outlet syndrome
• High-concentration capsaicin patches for diabetic nerve pain and shingles-related (postherpetic) nerve pain