What Can Help Reduce or Eliminate My Joint Pain?


What Can Help Reduce or Eliminate My Joint Pain?

Joint pain is a common problem. In fact, 23% of American adults live with arthritis symptoms alone. That's more than 54 million people.

However, even though joint pain is common, it can have numerous causes. As a result, there is not a universal therapy to provide relief. That's because a treatment that works for arthritis in joints may not give the same results if you have joint pain from an injury or a compressed nerve.

Fortunately, no matter what is to blame for your joint pain, numerous therapies can provide relief. Our skilled team at Valley Neurology and Pain can identify what is causing your joint pain and offer personalized solutions, so you can get effective results.

Here are just a few ways we treat joint pain at Valley Neurology and Pain.

Injected medications

Injected medications are a common therapy for joint pain. There are many types of medications, but they all focus on reducing pain and inflammation directly at the site causing your symptoms.

For example, if you have pain in a specific facet joint because of a nerve, we could recommend a medial branch block. This targeted therapy delivers medication by way of an injection to the small nerves involved with the facet joint.

Regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine also focuses on reducing pain and inflammation. However, instead of using medications, these injections harness powerful healing factors found in the body, such as stem cells and platelet-rich plasma.

When concentrated for use in regenerative medicine, these naturally occurring substances help activate, support, and accelerate the healing process in the body. So, if injected in the area causing your pain, they can restore healthy cells to the site. They can then trigger the healing process and reduce your symptoms.

Radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is another type of injection procedure, but it relies on radio waves to relieve pain.

During this treatment, we use a thin needle to deliver electromagnetic waves, or heat, to nerve tissues in a specific area. This disables the part of the nerve that is sending the pain signals to your brain, but other functions — such as muscle strength and normal sensations — remain intact.

Since this approach disables the pain fibers of the nerve, it typically provides longer-term relief than other types of injections that use pain medication only.

Manipulation under anesthesia

Manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) focuses on deep stretching to provide pain relief through increasing range of motion and overall function. This therapy is performed while you are under mild sedation. This enables our team to break up scar tissue and fibrous adhesions around muscles and joints while you are relaxed.

Spinal cord stimulation

Sometimes, the best solution for joint pain is changing the sensations, and we can do that thanks to spinal cord stimulation.

Spinal cord stimulation involves implanting a small power generator similar in size to a pacemaker. It has thin wires connected to it, and we place these wires between your vertebrae and spinal cord. These wires send mild electrical currents to nerves in the area, disrupting the pain signals the nerves are sending to your brain. So instead of feeling pain, you only have light tingling or no sensations at all.

Before implanting the wires and power generator, we perform a trial for at least a week to ensure spinal cord stimulation is right for you. This process still includes implanting the wires, but you wear the power generator externally to see how your joint pain responds. If you have a 50% or higher reduction in pain, we consider the trial a success and make arrangements to implant your device permanently.

At Valley Neurology and Pain, with three convenient Arizona locations in Phoenix and Peoria, you are never a number. Your consultation, examination, and treatment are always administered by a highly qualified physician. If you have joint pain, we have experienced physicians who can help you, including Toure Knighton, MD, Jin Yuk, MD, and Patricia Henthorn, DC, DAAMUAP. To learn more, book an appointment online or over the phone today.




Valley Neurology and Pain of Arizona Phoenix Magazine Top Doctor Award - Valley Neurology and Pain of Arizona

phone 480-508-2700

fax 866-371-2839

place 426 E Southern Ave Ste 101 Tempe, AZ 85282

place 2330 N 75th Ave Ste 113 Phoenix, AZ 85035