Pain Management

What is pain management?

As pain management specialists, Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter bring advanced training and expertise to diagnosing, preventing, and managing painful health conditions. This specialized area of medicine focuses on:

• Identifying the exact source of your pain
• Developing a course of treatment, either conservative or surgical, to eliminate pain
• Helping you avoid surgical care whenever possible by using conservative therapies
• Identifying solutions to manage even the most complex pain conditions resistant to traditional methods
• Providing medication management to safely control long-term use for chronic pain
• Offering rehabilitation services after surgery

Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter can help manage a broad spectrum of chronic pain problems and spinal dysfunction.

How are pain conditions diagnosed?

Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter diagnose chronic pain conditions by conducting a comprehensive medical exam that often includes:

• A full musculoskeletal evaluation
• Lab testing
• MRIs, X-rays, or ultrasound imaging
• Nerve conduction studies or electromyography (EMG)
• Neuropsychological screenings for head injuries, cognitive disorders, or dementia

Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter also understand the significant role chronic pain can play in psychological distress, so they can even make recommendations for counseling and emotional support based on your examination.

What types of pain management therapies are available?

Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter offer numerous pain management techniques to help provide relief for multiple conditions, including:

• Epidural steroid injections
• Selective nerve root blocks
• Facet blocks
• Lumbar discogram
• Sacroiliac joint injections
• Occipital nerve blocks
• Trigger point injections
• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Joint injections
• Hypogastric plexus blockade
• Sympathetic nerve blockade
• Radiofrequency thermal coagulation
• Percutaneous lumbar disc decompression
• Percutaneous lumbar laminotomy (mild®) procedure

They also provide spinal cord stimulation as a pain management technique.

What is spinal cord stimulation?

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an innovative pain management technique that uses an implanted device to interrupt and weaken your pain signals. Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter might recommend SCS to alter the nerve activity in a specific area of your body, especially chronic back, neck, or lower extremity pain.

When you have SCS, Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter implant a small device near your spine to deliver mild pulses of electricity to the nerves near your spinal cord. You control your SCS device with a handheld remote, so it’s easy to turn off and on and to adjust its settings.

Dr. Okezie and Dr. Carter offer a trial period to test the SCS device before implanting it.

Call Advanced Pain Management Specialists or schedule an appointment online today.