Anesthesia-Pain Medicine First Resort, Not Last

It has long been accepted that physicians have three basic options to alleviate suffering: surgery, physical therapy or pain medication. We have recently learned that there is an even better option - pain alleviating, minimally-invasive Pain Management/Medicine procedures used as the method of first resort, not last.

Trauma and injury cause inflammation. Inflammation occurs with a cascade of chemical and cellular reactions at the point of injury. Many if not most of the chemicals released with injury are deleterious and destructive to normal tissue.

Blood vessels leak protein and fluids into the injured area, and this causes swelling. Bradykinin is released, causing an increased sensitivity to pain. Arachidonic acid is generated after tissue injury. This chemical begins a cascade to a large number of other complex chemicals responsible for the inflammatory reaction. Lysosomal discharge of proteases cause damage to normal tissues. This is especially the case with neck and back injuries, where recent studies report nerve injury from the potent chemicals produced.

We have learned in recent years that these chemical reactions can be controlled and often stopped by well known and commonly used medications. These medications need to be delivered to the point of injury. The sooner these medications reach the area of early inflammation, the sooner the destructive processes will be terminated and the less tissue damage will occur.

Pain Management/Medicine is a new and modern science, utilizing creative and innovative solutions to previously persistent and difficult to cure painful injuries. Early use of Pain Medicine techniques deliver or inject medications quickly to the injured areas. This stops the destructive processes, and allows the tissues to heal. The injured victim quickly resumes normal activities, making surgery, physical therapy and medication management unnecessary. Rapid injury resolution limits the financial costs to the injured person and the loss of work. Pain Medicine/Management is now the First treatment of choice. By returning injured workers back to work rapidly, employers, employees and insurance all benefit.

Anesthesia-Pain Medicine/Management physicians specialize in the treatment of back pain, neck pain, nerve pain, work related injuries, traumatic injuries, sciatica, spinal cord injuries, herniated disks and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) also known as complex regional pain syndrome.

Pioneering Pain Medicine/Management techniques performed by Anesthesia Board Certified Pain Medicine/Management physicians include highly specific injection procedures eliminating pain at its source.

The American Chronic Pain Association reports that injury and pain cause losses to US business and industry in the order of $90 billion. Back pain is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old, and more than 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 64 will have back pain during their lifetime. Many back pain problems occur following injury, strain and accidents, causing lumbar muscle strains and ruptured/herniated discs.

According to Lawrence Gorfine, M.D., Past-President of the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, "Over the last twenty years, many chemical and anatomic pain pathways have been identified and studied. Anesthesia Board Certified Pain Medicine specialists perform diagnostic injections, usually with enhanced fluoroscopic guidance. These injections isolate and confirm the source of the patientŐs pain. Once identified, if these painful structures are quickly treated, inflammation stops. Tissues heal and patients quickly return to normal activities." Dr. Douglas MacLear, University of Pittsburg Fellowship Trained adds, "Rather than simply administering pain medication, Anesthesia Board Certified Pain Medicine physicians diagnose the sources of pain and provide pain relief through these and other minimally invasive techniques. The results are dramatic. The paradigm of treatment of injury has changed. Patients and society benefits if Anesthesia Pain Medicine is the first resort, not the last."

About Palm Beach Spine & Diagnostic Institute:

At Palm Beach Spine & Diagnostic Institute, Anesthesia Board-Certified Physicians specialize in performing innovative, minimally invasive techniques and procedures that are designed to cure and eliminate the cause of pain at its source. The goal is to allow patients to return to a normal activity level - minus the pain. http://www.helpain.com

Palm Beach Spine & Diagnostic Institute is located at 2290 10th Avenue North, Suite 600, Lake Worth, FL 33461, centrally located near West Palm Beach and Palm Beach International Airport, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. VIP and lodging arrangements available. Call 561-649-8770