Let Orange County Pain Clinics help relieve your chronic pain.
Orange County Pain Clinics, our spinal pain specialists recognize that there are simpler, more effective ways to relieve pain that go beyond covering it up with medications or performing an invasive back surgery procedure that can leave you feeling even worse than before.
Instead, our pain management techniques involve a combination of effective injections that can block the pain signals that are sent to your brain and microsurgical procedures that directly correct issues without making large incisions or cuts in your body’s tissues.
Spinal pain is an extremely frustrating condition. It affects your ability to lift, exercise, pick things up, and can sometimes make it difficult to walk. The pain often becomes worse with certain activities, and can result in overall fatigue if it affects your ability to get a good night’s sleep.
The nerves in your spine send signals directly to your brain and tell it that you are feeling pain.
Spinal Pain Causes
If you are experiencing spinal pain, the cause can be related to plenty of underlying causes or conditions. There are so many bones, muscles, joints, and nerves relating to your spine that it can be difficult to pinpoint the cause of any issue. In some cases, spinal pain is sudden and the causes are obvious, such as pain that occurs from muscle strain or a sports injury. However, some spinal pain causes can require some diagnostic work. Here are some other causes of spinal pain:
- Degenerative disc disease – wear and tear of the discs in your back, causing them to break down
- Spinal stenosis – narrowing of your spine
- Herniated discs – bulging of gelatinous material inside the spine’s discs
- Facet syndrome – wearing down of cartilage between facet joints that connect vertebrae
- Spondylolisthesis – slipping forward or backward of one of your vertebra
General curvature of the spine can also be a cause of spinal pain. Your spinal pain specialists at Orange County Pain Clinics can help you determine the cause of your pain.
Treatments
There are several different pain management techniques available for those suffering from spinal pain. The best treatment for you depends on what is causing your back pain. Treatment options can include injections, such as nerve root blocks (prevents nerves from sending pain signals to your brain), facet blocks (block pain in facet joints through the use of anti-inflammatory medication), trigger point injections (relax tightened muscles in your back), and an epidural (numbs the epidural space at the bottom of your spine).
Your spinal pain specialists might also suggest a microsurgical procedure, which provides pain relief without the pain and recovery time associated with typical back pain surgeries. These surgeries use small incisions, fiber optic cameras, and the METRx system of tubes and dilators in order to make sure that you can recover from your procedure quickly and with minimal pain.
Other treatments include radiofrequency ablation, which heats nerve tissue in order to prevent it from sending pain signals to the brain, and an intrathecal pump, which delivers pain medications directly to the area of the spine experiencing pain.
What will a consultation entail?
At Orange County Pain Clinics, our spinal pain specialists will talk with you about your back pain in order to learn more about your symptoms, the origin of the pain, and if there are any activities that make it worse. Your doctor will also want to learn more about your medical history in order to put together a plan that works best for you. You should come to your consultation prepared to answer plenty of questions and to undergo diagnostic testing, like x-rays, if your doctor feels it is necessary. At the end of your consultation, your physician will have an idea of what method of pain relief will be able to help you.
Why should I choose Orange County Pain Clinics?
At Orange County Pain Clinics, our spinal pain specialists seek to treat the whole person rather than just the pain. As a result, we aim to find a way to manage your pain for the long term and without incurring any additional pain or stressful recovery times. Instead, we want you to experience pain relief while enjoying an overall increased quality of life. At our facility, we won’t suggest pain relief options that we don’t feel will truly work and improve your lifestyle, allowing you to get back to work or back to enjoying exercise or other activities. Our facility features physicians that have a wide range of specialties and experiences, offering you comprehensive care no matter how your pain originates.
