Articles
Short, informative answers to
questions about pain
By Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD and Mahendra Sanapati, MD
What is chronic pain?
Everyone experiences occasional aches and pains. In fact, sudden pain is an important reaction of the nervous system that helps alert you.
What is Interventional Pain Management?
Each specialty in medicine has an official definition.
What are the goals of Interventional Pain Management?
Interventional pain physicians, like other physicians, have many goals.
How do you choose an Interventional Pain Management Physician?
Look for a pain physician that has special qualifications.
What are the types of spinal pain?
Pain in the low back, neck, and extremities may be either local, referred or radicular. Local pain is felt in the spine mainly due to sprain, strain and arthritis.
How do you find cause of pain?
Many people think that pain is a diagnosis, but this is not true. Pain is a symptom that tells the physician that something is wrong.
What is facet joint pain?
Facet joint pain is one of the most common pain symptoms with neck, mid back, and low back pain.
What do you know about low back anatomy?
Low back pain is the most common chronic pain problem.
What is disc herniation?
Not only can these discs be a source of pain, they can also cause pain by pressing up against a nerve.
What do you know about neck anatomy?
Pain in the neck is common, second only to pain in the low back. The cervical spine or neck starts at the base of the skull and connects to the thoracic region of the spine.
What is Sacroiliac Joint pain?
The sacroiliac joint is a major joint in the human body and connects the sacrum, the triangular bone at the bottom of the spine, with the pelvis, also known as the iliac.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common and chronic disorder with widespread musculoskeletal pain associated with fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues.
What is post Herpetic Neuralgia or pain after shingles?
Post Herpetic Neuralgia is a condition which produces severe, agonizing pain and suffering for many patients following shingles.
What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS?
Complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS, is also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, or RSD, or causalgia.
What is Neuropathic Pain?
Neuropathic pain involves the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, or the peripheral nerve system, which includes all the other nerves.
What Are Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs?
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also known as NSAIDs, provide pain relief and reduce fever.
What are epidural injections?
An epidural injection delivers medication into the epidural space to relieve pain caused by irritated spinal nerves.
What is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine describes an innovative medical therapy that enables the body to repair, replace, restore, and regenerate..
What is Spinal Cord Stimulation?
Spinal cord stimulation is the use of a stimulator to send electrical signals to areas of the spinal cord for the treatment of pain.
What is a Pain Pump?
Intrathecal drug delivery systems, known as pain pumps, are typically used for management of chronic nonmalignant pain and cancer-related pain.
What is Peripheral Nerve Stimulation or PNS?
PNS is a commonly used approach to treat chronic pain originating from the peripheral nervous system.