Pain Management
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Texas Pain & Orthopedics
Pain Management, Sports Medicine and Regenerative Orthopedics located in Pflugerville, TX
Chronic pain is often hard to manage, leaving you exhausted and depressed. If you struggle with pain every day, contact Ike Malik, MD, of Texas Pain & Orthopedics in Pflugerville, Texas, for expert pain management services. Dr. Malik is a board-certified pain management physician specializing in advanced interventions for patients with chronic pain. From arthritis and fibromyalgia to migraines and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), Texas Pain & Orthopedics provides the most effective treatments for chronic pain. To benefit from the practice’s cutting-edge approach, call the office today or book an appointment online.
Pain Management Q & A
What causes chronic pain?
Chronic pain — pain lasting for more than three months — can have many causes. Long-term diseases like cancer frequently cause chronic pain, and suffering from repeated headaches and migraines is also a chronic pain problem.
Very often, chronic pain comes from a neuromusculoskeletal cause involving the bones, joints, connective tissues, muscles, and nerves. Old injuries that don’t heal properly, abnormalities in your skeleton, and age-related deterioration can all cause chronic pain.
Nerve problems are frequently at the root of chronic pain. Compressed spinal nerves (radiculopathy) cause chronic back and neck pain that often spreads into the arms and legs. Pinched or dysfunctional nerves can cause pain in any part of your body.
Other kinds of chronic pain are less easy to classify. Sometimes, there isn’t a clear cause for the pain. This is called idiopathic pain.
Who can benefit from pain management?
Many people who struggle with chronic conditions require pain management services to stay active and maintain their quality of life. Some of the chronic pain conditions that are most common include:
- Spinal stenosis
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Vertebral compression fractures
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sciatica
- Spondylolisthesis
- Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
- Myofascial pain syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Trigeminal and occipital neuralgia
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Postherpetic neuralgia
- Diabetic peripheral neuropathy
To determine the cause of your pain, Dr. Malik performs a comprehensive physical exam and medical history review.
It helps if you can give him as many details as possible about your condition, for example, what the pain feels like, what makes it worse or eases its severity, and any other symptoms you’ve been experiencing.
You might also need blood tests, X-rays, an MRI or CT scan, or electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) tests.
How can pain management help me?
Your pain management plan depends on factors like your condition, other health issues, and how severely the pain is affecting you. Potential treatments Dr. Malik might use in your rehabilitation include:
- Physical therapy
- Rest and activity modification
- Medication
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections
- Stem cell therapy
- Epidural steroid injections
- Nerve blocks
- Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty (for vertebral compression fractures)
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Spinal cord stimulation
Many patients respond well to noninvasive treatments and don’t need to undergo advanced interventions like radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord stimulation. But if your pain is severe and other approaches aren’t helping, Dr. Malik excels in performing these procedures, which stop the nerves in the affected areas from sending pain messages to your brain.
If you’ve got chronic pain and don’t know where to turn for help, call Texas Pain & Orthopedics for expert treatment or book an appointment online today.
