Pain Management
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Pain Treatment
MeritCare's team includes a wide variety of medical experts working together to help each patient achieve maximum comfort. The team includes doctors, psychologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, social workers and nutritionists. Treatment types:
- Physical Therapy — includes both passive and active treatments, including stretching, strengthening and low impact aerobic exercise
- Patient Education
- Treatment of the psychological consequences of persistent pain
- Epidural Steroid Injections — An injection of a steroid into the epidural space, which surrounds the spinal column. The epidural injection has been used for over 40 years as treatment for neck, back, arm and leg pain.
- Sacro-iliac Joint Injection — A local anesthetic is injected into an area of your back where the vertebral body joins the hip bone.
- SympatheticGanglion Block — a procedure to relieve pain and to increase circulation in the hand, arm, or face. A local anesthetic will be injected into an area of the neck where a group of nerves (that supply the scalp, face, neck, shoulder, arm and hand) come together.
- Peripheral Nerve Block
- Occipital Nerve Block
- Lumbar and Cervical Medial Branch Blocks
- Nerve Root Block
- Trigger Point Injections — Areas to be injected with medication will be defined by you and the doctor. These areas will be cleansed and a needle will be placed into each defined area.
- Joint Injection — Hip
- Radiofrequency — takes place via a probe through a cannula. The cannula is placed close to the target nerve under x-ray. A radiofrequency current is passed through the cannula and heats up the surrounding tissue, this produces a lesion in the nerve, the procedure stops pain transmission for a prolonged period of time.
- Spinal Cord Stimulator — a small pulse generator, implanted in the back, transmits electrical pulses to the spinal cord. These pulses interfere with the nerve impulses responsible for leg pain due to nerve damage
- Intrathecal Infusion Pump — Composed of two implantable components: an infusion pump and an intraspinal catheter. The pump is placed abdominally in a pocket under the skin, while the catheter is inserted into the intrathecal space of the spine, tunneled under the skin and connected to the pump. Medication can be delivered at constant or variable flow rates.
- Multi-disciplinary intensive outpatient treatment of chronic pain
- Medical assessment & pharmaceutical therapy
- Referral for nontraditional therapies including Relaxation Techniques, Biofeedback and Massage
Pain Medication
The management of chronic and/or cancer pain is sometimes achieved through the use of pain medication. In these instances, patients are monitored very closely for their effectiveness and side effects. In certain instances, pain relief may be delivered through an intrathecal infusion pump or by a spinal cord stimulator.