Surgery isn’t always the answer. Depending on the extent of your orthopedic injury or condition, its cause, and your overall health, you and your doctor may decide that more conservative methods may relieve your pain – without having to turn to surgery or drugs.
The providers at Orthopaedic Surgical Consultants in Merrillville, Indiana, will discuss all available treatment options with you, including pain management therapies. In some cases, these may adequately relieve your pain and meet your treatment goals such that surgery can be avoided altogether.
Conditions Treated
Conditions that may be addressed using a pain management technique include:
- Arthritis
- Fractures
- Herniated discs
- Pinched nerves
- Post-surgical healing
- Pulled muscles
- Soft tissue tears
- Spinal stenosis
- Sprains and strains
- Tendonitis
Pain Management Therapies
There are a wide variety of pain management approaches that can be used to address your pain and other symptoms. Some of the most common therapies used at OSC include:
Epidural Steroid Injections
If you’re suffering from neck, back, arm, or leg pain, epidural steroid injections may be just what the doctor ordered. These injections are delivered into the epidural space that surrounds the spinal canal and may be administered at the neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic), low back (lumbar), and tailbone (sacral) areas of the spine.
The injection contains an anesthetic as well as steroids, which can effectively calm inflamed spinal nerves due to numerous orthopedic conditions such as a herniated disc or spinal stenosis.
It may take a few days for the injection to take effect. Typically, the pain relief lasts for several months, which may be all the time your nerves need to heal so that the pain doesn’t recur.
Physical Therapy
The focus of physical therapy is on restoring function and relieving pain. For example, if your pain is caused by a pinched nerve, there are stretches, manual manipulations, and a vast array of other methods our therapists can use to address the situation to effectively relieve your pain.
Find out more about our physical therapy services.
Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative orthobiologics such as PRP therapy and stem cell therapy can have a powerful effect on your ability to heal.
These types of regenerative medicine use the body’s natural healing mechanisms to slowly, permanently heal the underlying condition causing your pain. PRP and stem cell therapies have been used to help patients suffering from a broad range of orthopedic injuries.
Read about our regenerative orthobiologics on our Injection Clinic page to learn more.
Viscosupplementation
This pain management therapy is used specifically for knee pain as the result of osteoarthritis. The injection delivers hyaluronic acid, a gel-like substance naturally produced in your body, into the knee to lubricate the joint and help reduce pain and swelling. It has been successfully used to restore pain-free movement for several months. Viscosupplementation may also slow cartilage and bone loss in the knee.