Interventional Pain Management

What is interventional pain management?

Interventional pain management is an area of medicine that focuses on treating conditions or injuries that cause pain and limit function. The unique advantage of this specialty is that it involves minimally invasive procedures for pain relief that are more patient-friendly than surgery.

Dr. Mills offers innovative nonsurgical pain relief procedures that can stimulate the body’s own healing abilities. His therapeutic treatment methods for chronic pain relief include:

• Cervical Epidural Steroid Injections
  Neck pain is a common spine condition. Cervical epidural steroid injections deliver medication right to the source of the pain in the cervical spine to provide neck pain relief that can last for months.
• Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections
  Low back pain is a common type of chronic pain, especially with increasing age. Lumbar epidural steroid injections are used to place medication at the affected area in the lumbar spine to provide low back pain relief.
• Trigger Point Injections (TPI)
  Trigger points are painful knotted bands of muscle. Trigger point injections (TPI) are used in pain management to relax the trigger points and provide pain relief.
• Facet Blocks
  Facet joints connect the bones that align to make up the spine. Facet blocks are a type of back pain management injection that can provide long-lasting pain relief. After irritated or inflamed facet joints are located, a local anesthetic injection is delivered for pain management.
• Selective Nerve Root Blocks
  A variety of conditions can cause nerve pain in the neck. A cervical selective nerve root block is a spinal injection procedure that delivers local anesthetic to the affected nerve for pain relief.
• Ultrasound-Guided Joint Injection (In Office)
  Ultrasound guidance is a precise way to deliver therapeutic injections in the musculoskeletal system. The ability to see the needle in real time allows for the best placement of the needle, exactly where it's needed. This precision provides therapeutic pain relief.
• Fluoroscopy
  A fluoroscopy is a live X-ray that creates real-time images. It is especially useful for diagnosing upper or lower digestive tract disorders or joint problems (arthrography). The live images can help a doctor determine how a structure is functioning. Fluoroscopy is also used in the operating room for many procedures, particularly for orthopedic surgery and the placement of most implanted devices.

Please visit our patient education library to learn more about interventional pain management and to read and view medical animations about epidural steroid injections, nerve root blocks, facet blocks, and trigger point injections.