Reduce your pain and increase your ability to do your daily activities with ease. Our team diagnoses, treats, and provides minimally invasive pain interventions to improve your strength, agility, balance, and endurance. Because we don't require a referral, your treatment is accelerated.
You will receive a treatment plan tailored to your needs which can include physical therapy, medication, and interventions such as injections, nerve blocks, or spinal stimulation. Whether you need to return work, competitive sports, or maintain your independent lifestyle, our experienced team will utilize the most current treatment modalities available to maximize your treatment outcome.
Reduce or eliminate pain through various non-surgical interventions including injections and nerve blockings. The following methods may require you to alter your lifestyle by increasing physical activity or avoiding certain medications to improve your overall wellness and reduce pain.
Interventional therapy can alleviate chronic pain by blocking the transmission of pain signals to the brain. It involves special procedures such as an injection of local anesthetic, steroid, or narcotic around nerves, tendons, joints, or muscles. Nerve blocks and spinal cord stimulation can also treat and manage pain. In some cases of extreme pain, drugs are often given in smaller doses through the catheter directly into the spinal cord.
Even though interventional procedures for treating pain seem simple, extreme care should be taken when conducting these procedures. Dr. Carlson is a well-trained, experienced intervential pain specialist.
Epidural steroid injections are minimally invasive procedures in which x-ray fluoroscopy is used to navigate the needle to the site of the pain generator. An anti-inflammatory steroid is then injected into the pain site, relieving pain for weeks or even months. With the assistance of physical therapy or rehab programs, you can work to reduce pain more permanently. This procedure can be used to relieve neck, arm, back, or leg pain and can be repeated if pain returns to the area.
Facet joint injections use x-ray fluoroscopy to inject a steroid medication that reduces pain and swelling. These injections into the joint or nerves leading to the facet joint are often very effective at reducing pain.
Sacroiliac joint injections also use x-ray fluoroscopy to find the proper area for the injection. Then a local anesthetic is injected in the sacroiliac joint where the tailbone and pelvis meet. Problems with this joint can cause back and leg pain if untreated.
Trigger point injections target painful knots in your muscles that spasm or have chronic tension, leaving your muscle tender and sore. The pain can then trigger more spasms creating a cycle of pain, but the injections act as muscle blocks to help relieve the pain and end the cycle.
Medial branch blocks are the method of injecting local anesthetic near a nerve of a facet joint. This stops the message of pain coming from the joint from ever reaching the pain, therefore relieving the pain. This procedure is usually used to relieve back pain.
Spinal cord stimulation involves implanting an electrical pulse generator at the nerves by the back of the spinal cord. The implant then sends low level electrical signals to block the pain receptors and replace it with a tingling sensation at the site of the pain. This procedure is recommended when other methods have failed or have not stopped the pain by itself.
Cervical epidural steroid injections place powerful anti-inflammatory medication in the epidural space of the spine in the neck region. This reduces the pressure put on spinal nerves so that they are no longer pinched and no longer cause neck and back pain.
Lumbar epidural steroid injections put powerful anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space of the spine in the lower back region which can help relieve lower back pain.
Radiofrequency lesioning uses electrical impulses to interrupt nerve conduction for 6-12 months. A special needle is directed by x-ray to the problematic nerve. The needle tip is then heated to cauterize the nerve, thereby destroying it and reducing the pain.
Initial Consult Pain Evaluation Form
Pain Diary - Cervical Medial Branch Block
Pain Diary - Lumbar Medial Branch Block
Discography is used to guide the needle to a spinal disc that is suspected of being the cause of back pain. The needle is then inserted in the disc and a contrast dye is injected into the disc to determine whether that disc is the source of the pain. This can be used to find the cause of neck and back pain.