Pain Management Center

Medications are a common way to relieve pain so you can get back to your daily life. They can also help you take part in other types of treatment, like physical therapy and occupational therapy. Medications can be one part of a larger, whole-person treatment plan. 

There is a wide range of pain medications available. Each type treats pain in a different way. Medications your doctor may recommend include:

• Acetaminophen
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and naproxen
• Antidepressants
• Antiseizure drugs
• Opioids
• N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) blockers
• Topical pain treatments you apply to your skin

Pain psychology addresses the physical and emotional aspects of pain. It helps improve resilience, functionality, and quality of life, even when complete pain relief isn’t possible.

Our pain psychologists work with patients and medical providers to provide comprehensive, patient-centered treatments. They use a wide range of proven psychological therapies to teach you how to soothe and retrain your nervous system and reengage in meaningful activities.

We also offer a variety of individual and group treatment programs, including:

• All About Sleep and Pain: This six-week class teaches cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) practices and mindfulness skills to address the relationship between chronic pain and insomnia.
• Back in ACTion: This six-week program teaches a comprehensive approach to pain management that includes physical therapy, gentle movement, pain management education, and pain psychology. Participants learn practical skills to improve their physical functioning and reduce the impact pain has on their lives.
• Coping Skills Group: This eight-week virtual program teaches CBT techniques tailored to pain management. Participants learn powerful tools to manage the connections between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to pain.
• Empowered Relief: This single-session, virtual class empowers participants to improve their pain management skills through various strategies.
• Pain and Purpose: This six-week virtual class is based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Participants learn mindfulness and behavioral strategies to help them live a meaningful life, despite chronic pain. 

Types of rehabilitation therapy we offer include:

• Occupational therapy: Occupational therapy is a type of rehabilitation treatment that helps improve your ability to do everyday tasks. You may learn how to use tools, do beneficial exercises, or make changes in how you do things.
• Physical therapy: Physical therapy helps you improve how your body moves to reduce pain. Treatment may include exercises, stretching, and hands-on treatment.

A nerve block is an injection of an anesthetic medication near a nerve that is causing pain. We offer several types of nerve blocks:

• Brachial plexus block: A brachial plexus block is a treatment for chronic arm and shoulder pain. Your doctor injects numbing medicine into your neck, collarbone area, or upper arm.
• Gasserian ganglion block: A gasserian ganglion block is a treatment for facial pain and trigeminal neuralgia. It’s an injection that numbs nerves that provide feeling to your face and scalp.
• Hypogastric plexus block: A hypogastric plexus block treats chronic pelvic pain. It involves injecting pain medicine near a bundle of nerves in your lower abdomen.
• Occipital nerve block: An occipital nerve block is a pain medicine injection that targets nerves in the back of your head. It can be used to relieve head or neck pain.
• Peripheral nerve block: This medication injection targets nerves outside your brain and spinal cord. A peripheral nerve block can be used to diagnose or treat pain.

An epidural steroid injection delivers an anti-inflammatory medicine into the space around your spinal nerves (epidural space). Your doctor injects the medicine through gaps in the bones of your spine (vertebrae). These injections reduce swelling and pain in the nerves and fluid-filled discs between your vertebrae. 

We use different types of epidurals for different areas of your body: 

• Caudal epidural injects medicine into the epidural space through openings in your tailbone (coccyx) in your lower back.
• Interlaminar epidural injects medicine into the epidural space between your vertebrae.
• Transforaminal epidural injects medicine around nerve roots that branch off from your spine.

The intrathecal space is the fluid-filled area around your spinal cord. Intrathecal therapy involves inserting a thin tube (intrathecal catheter) into this space. An external pump connected to a port placed under your skin delivers pain medication.

In some cases, we may also place the pump under your skin. An intrathecal programmable pump is used to treat chronic pain and severe muscle tightness (spasticity) caused by certain spinal cord conditions.

You receive an intravenous (IV) lidocaine infusion through an IV infusion at your doctor’s office or infusion center. It provides a slow, steady dose of lidocaine (a numbing medicine) into one of your veins to help manage certain types of pain.

We offer minimally invasive procedures to provide relief for back pain:

• Minimally invasive sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion: This procedure eases pain in your lower back by fusing the bones in your SI joint together to stabilize the joint. 
• Basivertebral nerve ablation (Intracept™ Procedure): In this procedure, your doctor uses a small tool to destroy (ablate) a small area of nerve tissue in your lower back. This treatment disrupts pain signals, providing relief. 

We work with surgeons to plan surgery and help patients control pain before their operation to help with recovery.

Self-empowerment includes learning, building skills, and gaining confidence. Applying this approach to pain management helps you learn how chronic pain works in the brain and how to feel less afraid of your symptoms.

Spinal cord stimulation uses a small, implanted device to send electrical signals to your spinal cord. The signals can help reduce pain in your back, arms, and legs.

A temporary epidural catheter is a short-term treatment that involves placing a tiny tube into the epidural space in your spine. Your care team uses the catheter to give you pain medicine over a set period of time—usually less than two weeks.