Chronic Pain Management Centre In Delhi

Tag: Back Pain Treatment In Delhi,

 Chronic Post Surgical Pain

Pain affects more people than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

If you do not believe this statement then let me remind you of some common scenes from your daily life. You may have stopped noticing these believing that nothing can be done or accepted them as a part of aging. BUT IS THAT SO?

…remember the grandma who grunts in pain every time she tries to get up

…. the husband who complains of a backache every morning, taking his time to overcome the stiffness before he can start his day

….aunt who finds it difficult to get out of the car because of pain

….your colleague who has to randomly take time off work because of severe headaches

…your work colleague who keeps pressing his neck complaining of neck pain

….your friend who gave up badminton because of shoulder pain

….diabetic uncle who cannot sleep as he feels his feet are on fire

….your close friend who underwent breast surgery a few years back and still complains of pain

Do these sound familiar… and I have not even talked about the numerous patients with sciatica, tennis elbow, heel pain, abdominal pain, cancer pain, pelvic pain, testicular pain, chest-wall pain, post-traumatic pain, nerve injury pain, etc. The list is endless. The financial burden of these problems on individuals, families, society, and government is enormous.

Yes, these are all examples of chronic pain

Yes, these are challenging to treat because pain is a very personal experience and one therapy does not work for all.

BUT YES…. there are options that can improve your quality of life significantly. After all, quality of life is important for everyone. For someone, it may all be about being able to play a few rounds of golf and for someone to attend an important meeting at work without being distracted by pain. Your goals are your goals and they are important.

Chronic pain is a frequent condition affecting an estimated 20% of people worldwide. Globally 1 in 10 adults is diagnosed with chronic pain each year. Despite this, not many are aware of the available pain management options. The general perception is that pain management is for cancer pain. Even for the majority of well-informed people, it stops at a few nerve blocks for relieving pain in cancer or trigeminal neuralgia.

In India, there is huge variability in the services offered by the existing pain clinics. Lack of recognized comprehensive training curriculum in pain medicine with government-approved minimal training standards may be one of the contributing factors. The focus of most specialists is on interventions rather than holistic management. This is contrary to most western countries where Pain Medicine is a separate specialty with a well-defined curriculum and minimum standards that must be fulfilled for one to proclaim himself as a pain specialist. The focus there is on long term solutions using a multidisciplinary approach and teamwork. Nevertheless, the awareness for chronic pain options is increasing with an important role being played by the media. I hope that the benefits do not get restricted to a privileged few and all fellow brothers and sisters are able to benefit.

Neck Pain Treatment in Delhi from Pain Management in Delhi

Majority of us would experience neck pain at some point in our life. Neck Pain can disrupt daily routine activities. Muscle spasm, pain can make it difficult to turn head and activities such as driving become difficult. It is not uncommon for the neck pain to radiate to shoulders or lead to persistent headaches. Neck pain is more commonly observed in middle ages and may have a mechanical or postural basis. Most uncomplicated neck pain is associated with poor posture, anxiety and depression, neck strain, injuries. Fortunately majority of cases are not due to serious causes. If you are experiencing unresolving or severe pain, you should seek medical opinion from neck and shoulder pain treatment specialists in Delhi so that timely diagnosis can be done and corrective action can be taken.

Some common causes include –

• Muscle sprain, spasm/ increased tension
• Poor posture and work ergonomics
• Incorrect positioning of the neck while sleeping
• Aging: Degenerative disc disease and spinal osteoarthritis become more common as we age
• Injuries/ Whiplash: Whiplash neck involves sudden jolting of neck forwards and backwards and is commonly observed in vehicular accidents. This can cause excessive stretching of neck muscles, ligaments or other injuries which can be associated with neck pain.

Neck pain can be a part of more widespread medical issues such as in fibromyalgia, arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, infections, cancer etc. You can approach Pain Management in Delhi for diagnosing your problem and suggesting suitable solutions

It is advisable to seek early medical attention if you experience any of the following

• Persisting symptoms or severe pain not responding to usual care or medications
• Pain starting after fall, injury
• New onset numbness, weakness or tingling in arms
• Gait or balance problems
• Loss or urine or stool control
• Signs of infection/ meningitis
• Pain worse at night time/interfering with your sleep

Some of the pain management techniques for neck pain include:

Lifestyle changes: Incorrect/ ignored posture while working on laptops mobiles etc can put excessive cervical spine strain leading to pain. Certain professions can be more prone to develop neck pain. Simple posture awareness and improvement, taking regular breaks can go a long way in reducing symptoms.

Medications: Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen and pain relievers like acetaminophen may initially be prescribed by your doctor. Sometimes medications like muscle relaxants or stronger painkillers may also be suggested by your doctor.

Physical Therapy: Regular exercise, good posture, stretching can help to reduce/ prevent to prevent unwanted stress and tension to your neck muscles. Heat or cold application may be used during the initial phases of injury to facilitate your recovery and physical exercise. Depending on the severity, time since injury and your recovery the specialist may recommend limiting normal physical activity or slow range-of-motion exercises or strengthening exercises.

There is research evidence supporting the use of specific strengthening exercises as part of a routine practice for chronic neck pain, cervicogenic headache and radiculopathy.

Ergonomics & Posture
Simple posture changes and better workplace ergonomics can help in preventing/reducing neck pain. Measures include adjustment of furniture height and computer position such that

• Eyes point directly at the top third of the screen
• Forearm is parallel to floor
• Feet should be flat on the floor with thighs parallel with the floor

While sitting in office chair it’s a good practice to have back aligned against the back of the office chair and avoid slouching. Avoid sitting in one place for too long. Taking regular breaks to walk around and stretch is a good practice.

Relaxation techniques: relationship between stress and increase pain is well known and easily appreciated by most patients. Measures to deal with stress and anxiety help in more effective pain management.

Massage Therapy: The evidence supporting the use of massage therapy is limited although some people do find it useful in the short term. Massage can help in relaxing, loosening of muscles but it is important to remember that wrongly done massage can lead to harm.

Acupuncture: Certain people find Acupuncture helpful in neck pain management. When performed correctly it is a low risk procedure. The traditional acupuncture is based on the theory of restoring the energy balance in body and removing any blockages to the flow of energy.

Injections/ other interventions such as Radiofrequency ablation: These would depend on the cause of neck pain and actual pathology. They have been explained in more detail in the neck & arm pain section under treatments, on my website- removemypain.com

Ignoring persisting symptoms can aggravate the situation leading to chronic pain with reduced functionality. So, if your pain persists and does not respond to usual lifestyle changes and painkillers then seek medical opinion on time.

Tags >> neck and shoulder pain treatment in Delhi, Pain Management Centre in Delhi, Pain Specialist In Delhi

Epidural Steroid Injections can provide quick relief if pain originating from the spine

Tags >> pain management in delhi, Pain Specialist In Delhi, Spine Pain treatment

Epidural injections for Spine Pain treatment

Epidural injections are a pain management option for patients with leg or arm pain originating from the spine. This is also known as Radicular pain or Radiculopathy. The pain usually radiates away from the irritated nerves. For Example – the pain could be originating from lower spine and may be felt far away in the legs. Pain specialists offer non-surgical options like this one for pain relief. As the techniques used are minimally invasive, and do not involve surgical incision or prolonged recovery, the risks involved are less.

One of the causes nerve pain is the narrowing (stenosis) of the space for these nerves in the spine or narrowing of the space from which these nerves exit the spine. This may be secondary to a slip disc or rupturing of the discs.

Depending on the problem different techniques /routes may be utilised to perform epidural injection. Nerve root block /transforaminal epidural, caudal epidural, interlaminar epidural are all epidural injections. Different names are used to indicate the technique used and route of entry. The route or the technique used can have an impact on where the maximum amount of drug is deposited.

How the epidural Injection works

Generally a combination of local anaesthetics and steroid are uses in these injections. The resulting pain relief can last for a few months although some people can experience long lasting relief from these injections. Corticosteroids serve dual purpose as an analgesic as well as have anti-inflammatory property. So, they help to control both pain and inflammation.

Immediately after the injection the injection site can feel sore although this is not troublesome for most people. This is mainly because of the mechanical process of inserting needle or at time also due to irritation resulting from the injected medication. But you need not worry about this as it will fade away soon and the pain relief would become apparent as the steroids start to work.

Benefits of Epidural Steroid Injection

There are numerous benefits of epidural pain injection over oral corticosteroids:

• Epidural injection delivers the medication close to the problem as a result more drug reaches the site of action compared to when it is taken orally.
• Side effects of the epidural injection are less compared to oral corticosteroids.
• The duration for which the effect of epidural steroid injection is generally longer. This period can be effectively utilized by the patient to engage in physiotherapy and strengthen the supporting muscles.
• Epidural steroidal injections help in providing quick pain relief in case of severe pain

Epidural injection works very well in case of pain originating from lower back (thoracic spine), neck (cervical spine) and mid back (thoracic spine). You should take expert advice from experienced pain specialists in Delhi as they can give you advice regarding the most appropriate therapy for you. Generally epidural injections are more beneficial in cases where the pain travels (radiates) towards arms or legs. Discuss this option with your specialist to find out if this is the right treatment for you.

Cooled Radiofrequency Treatment In Delhi for Chronic Knee and Sacroiliac Joint Pain

Cooled Radiofrequency treatment has recently become available in New Delhi, India. It is an alternative for those suffering from chronic knee pain secondary to various reasons such as osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease and persisting pain after knee replacement. It offers a safe, effective non surgical, minimally invasive alternative to knee replacement for patients who are either

• Not keen on surgery or
• Not fit for surgery due to other medical problems or
• Have persisting pain after knee replacement.

This procedure can also be used for sacroiliac joint pain as in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and for low back pain secondary to facet joint arthritis. It is a day care procedure performed under local anaesthesia with no requirement for hospital stay or prolonged rehabilitation. Normal activities can generally be resumed soon after the procedure with little or no recovery time. Less pain can lead to improved functionality and reduced medication requirements.

Knee joint is supplied by branches from many nerves and these are collectively addressed as genicular nerves. The initial diagnostic procedure involves local anaesthetic injections close to the nerves supplying the knee joint. If the diagnostic procedure produces good pain relief then it is beneficial to proceed with radiofrequency treatment from pain specialist. Radiofrequency treatment aims to reduce the pain signals being transmitted by the nerves to the brain. This is achieved by heating up a small area of the nerve using the electric current produced by radio waves. The procedure involves placing needles close to these nerves under x ray or ultrasound guidance followed by heating of nerves. Cooled differs from conventional Radiofrequency as it has water circulating through the device, needle tip and can create a larger treatment area increasing the chances of success. It can provide lasting pain relief for up to a period of 18- 24 months and has a low complication rate. I trained in this procedure in Germany a few years back and I use a combination of ultrasound and x rays to improve the chances of having a successful outcome.

Tags >> Best Knee Pain Treatment In Delhi, Cooled Radiofrequency Treatment, Cooled Radiofrequency Treatment In Delhi, Sacroiliac Joint Pain