Pain Management
Less pain means more of what matters to you. Maybe that’s enjoying time with family, engaging in hobbies or exploring the outdoors. Whatever your priorities, St. Bernards Healthcare helps you focus on them—instead of your symptoms. Trust our pain management specialists for compassionate care that lets you make the most of your life.
Conditions & Symptoms We Treat
We take time to listen and understand your concerns about conditions such as:
Treatments & Procedures
We’ll do a thorough exam to find the source of your discomfort. Then, we’ll discuss your treatment options and determine whether you’d benefit from one of these procedures:
Facet Joint Rhizotomy
Rhizotomy uses radiofrequency (heat) energy to destroy a small area of nerves that send pain signals from your spine’s facet joints to your brain. When the nerves are gone, you no longer feel pain. Also called ablation or neurotomy, this procedure can relieve pain for six months to two years, or until the nerves grow back.
Injections
Injections deliver medications straight to the source of your pain. Compared to pills you swallow, injected drugs lead to fewer side effects and can be given in higher doses. Most injections contain one or both of these:
- Steroid that reduces inflammation
- Anesthetic that numbs part of the body
Injections can help us both diagnose and treat your condition. To find the source of your pain, your doctor may inject a small dose of medication into a certain area—such as the sacroiliac joint in your pelvis or the facet joints or epidural space in your spine. This procedure is called a diagnostic nerve block. If it makes you feel better, we’ll focus treatment on the same nerves.
Your doctor may use real-time imaging to precisely guide the injection needle to the right place, making treatment as effective as possible. Depending on your symptoms, lifestyle and type of injection, you may experience relief anywhere from a week to a year.
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty treats painful compression fractures (collapsed bones) in your spine. Under imaging guidance, your doctor uses a needle to insert a tiny balloon into the spine and then inflates the balloon to restore the height of the bone. Next, your doctor injects a special bone cement into the space to stabilize it so the bone doesn’t collapse again. This procedure relieves your pain.
Spinal Cord Stimulation
Spinal cord stimulation uses a gentle electric current to block painful nerve impulses in your back. To see if this technology helps you, a doctor will temporarily place thin wires under your skin. The wires connect to a small generator you carry. If you feel pain relief, the doctor will implant a permanent stimulator during a separate appointment. You control the stimulator with a small remote and adjust the electrical signals depending on your needs.
