For that sudden pain and for those with chronic pain, finding relief can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Sometimes patients are sent back and forth from their primary care physicians to specialists and therapists of all kinds in search of a solution to their pain problems. Interventional pain procedures can be extremely helpful for those who continue to experience unresolved painful conditions after sometimes-exhaustive treatment methods.

Here at FORMA, interventional pain procedures are used for both diagnosis and for the treatment of many conditions. The goal of our interventional procedures is to identify the pain generators, then relieve or reduce the pain response and intensity. Once your pain is controlled or managed, you will most likely succeed in participating in a comprehensive rehabilitation program and improve your overall quality of life.

Interventional pain procedures at FORMA are minimally invasive techniques, and most of the procedures are image-guided by ultrasound or x-ray fluoroscopy. In some cases, electromyography (EMG), or nerve stimulator, is used to provide additional guidance for increased accuracy.

By concentrating on the cause of your pain, our interventional procedures deliver medications directly to the target site of your pain, which helps you return to your physical rehabilitation activities quickly and with a decreased reliance on medications.

Here at FORMA, we offer the following pain management treatments and procedures:

• Epidural injections for the neck, mid-back and lower back (this is a very different procedure from the epidural anesthesia a woman receives during labor): the use of anesthetic (for diagnosis) and steroid medications (anti-inflammatory) injected into the epidural space to relieve pain or diagnose a specific part of the spine that is the cause of the pain.
• Medial branch nerve blocks (for Facet Pain): injections done to determine if a specific spinal joint is the primary source of pain.  Blocks also can be used to reduce inflammation and pain. For more information please click here.
• Radiofrequency Rhizotomy: a minimally invasive procedure that disables the medial branch nerves for six to nine months and prevents them from transmitting pain signals from the posterior column (facets). These are done after confirmatory diagnostic blocks to the target medial branch nerves are performed.
• Neurostimulation: Electrodes placed near the nerves of the spinal cord that uses of electrical impulses to block pain from being perceived in the brain.
• Piriformis Muscle Block: This injection block is used for diagnosis and treatment of piriformis muscle, which is possibly responsible for sciatic nerve irritation (sciatica pain).
• Sacroiliac Joint Injection Block: The sacroiliac joint (a large joint in your buttocks region) can cause localized pain or it can refer pain into your groin, abdomen, hip, buttock or leg. A sacroiliac joint injection offers immediate pain relief, which will help confirm the joint as a source of pain. It can also allow for treatment of recalcitrant buttock and leg/hip pain.
• Nerve Blocks: A particular nerve may be the major sensory supply to a body area or specific joint, such as shoulder joint pain (suprascapular nerve), lateral hip crest pain (cluneal nerves) or headaches (occipital nerves). By injecting medications, including anesthetic and steroids on occasion, precise diagnostics can be derived and pain-reduction treatment can be performed.
• Trigger Point Injections: Anesthetic injections targeting muscles, which have unresolved tenderness and are in painful spasms. These injections are normally performed with anesthetic solutions, allowing the interruption of spasms and pain.
• Prolotherapy: Here, we use a “proliferative” solution (mostly dextrose or sugar water), which is injected into the ligament or tendon where it attaches to the bone. This causes a localized inflammatory reaction to increase the blood supply and flow of nutrients to stimulate the tissue to repair itself. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is done by the injection of growth factors into injured areas, which are extracted from one’s own blood to stimulate healing.
• Botox Injections: Botox functions by temporarily blocking the neurotransmitters that tell muscles to contract. Thus, it decreases severe muscle spasm and pain for three to six months. Learn more about FORMA Botox injections for pain management…
• Cortisone Injections: These are used to treat the inflammation of a bursa (bursitis), a tendon (tendonitis), or a joint (arthritis).  Systemic corticosteroid injections are also used for conditions such as allergic reactions, asthma and nerve inflammation.
• Joint Fluid Injections: Used to treat osteoarthritis of the knee with viscosupplementation medications injected directly into the joint.  These medications can help reduce pain in a joint affected by osteoarthritis, thus increasing mobility and allowing for maximization of your rehabilitation.

Note: At FORMA, we believe any interventional treatments need to be part of a comprehensive approach that may include the use of oral medications and a multi-disciplinary physical rehabilitation therapy program, with the ultimate goal of improving your overall physical performance and quality of life.

If you would like more information about Pain Management Procedures available in our Costa Mesa, California, office, please call us today at (949) 999-0777, or send us a note via our Contact page.