Most people in the United States will experience low back pain at least once during their lives. Back pain is one of the most common reasons for physician visits and a primary cause of work absences.
The physicians of Valley Pain Consultants provide patients with clinically excellent, compassionate care for all types of back pain, including cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back) and lumbar (low-back) pain, including patients with conditions such as herniated discs, failed back surgery syndrome, pinched nerves, sciatica, scoliosis and spinal stenosis. Valley's specialists have helped patients to successfully reduce or eliminate pain, increase flexibility and mobility, and restore their quality of life.
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After a comprehensive evaluation of the patient, a Valley interventional pain management specialist will thoroughly explain the patient’s diagnosis and treatment options. Furthermore, our specialists counsel patients about the actions they can take to reduce their back pain, including physical therapy, behavioral therapy and lifestyle changes.
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Learn More About Lumbar Radiculopathy (Sciatica)
Valley Pain Consultants' back pain specialists employ a range of highly advanced, interventional pain management procedures to treat back pain, including:
Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) is a term used to describe the normal changes in spinal discs as people age. Spinal discs are soft, compressible discs that separate the interlocking bones (vertebrae) that make up the spine.
Spinal discs serve as shock absorbers for the spine, allowing it to flex, bend and twist. Degenerative disc disease can take place throughout the spine, but most often occurs in the discs of the lower back and neck.
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Valley Pain Consultants treat degenerative disc disease using a wide range of treatment options tailored to the patient's needs and designed to improve quality of life. The treatments that Valley's interventional pain management treatment specialists offer include:
Failed Back Surgery Syndrome is becoming more and more common now; this chronic pain condition can make a difficult back injury significantly worse. Additional trauma to the back or pressure on the spine upon completion of the surgery can cause the chronic pain symptoms associated with Failed Back Surgery Syndrome.
As with most chronic pain conditions, Failed Back Surgery Syndrome is characterized by dull, aching, pain in the back and in the extremities that tends to radiate from the lower back to points all over the body.
Valley Pain Consultants offers patients innovative, non-invasive or minimally invasive treatments for patients suffering from Failed Back Surgery Syndrome including epidural injections, spinal cord stimulator implants and intrathecal pump implants.
Following a detailed history and physical at the initial appointment, Valley Pain Consultants' highly skilled physicians will use a broad spectrum of treatment options designed to improve the patient's quality of life. Included among the interventional pain management treatments Valley physicians offers are:
Learn More About Lumbar Radiculopathy (Sciatica)
Valley Pain Consultants' back pain specialists employ a range of highly advanced, minimally invasive procedures to treat lumbar radiculopathy, including:
The neck has a significant amount of motion and supports the weight of the head. However, because it is less protected than the rest of the spine, the neck can be vulnerable to injury and disorders that produce pain and restrict motion. For many, neck pain is a temporary condition that disappears with time. Others need medical diagnosis and treatment to relieve their symptoms.
Neck pain may result from abnormalities in the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments and nerves), as well as in bones and joints of the spine. The most common causes of neck pain are soft-tissue abnormalities due to injury or prolonged wear and tear. In some people, neck problems may be the source of pain in the upper back, shoulders, or arms.
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If a patient fails to obtain adequate relief from conservative therapy for neck pain, Valley Pain Consultants offers patients suffering with neck pain a comprehensive array of interventional pain procedures, including:
Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of one or more areas of the spine, most often in the neck or lower back. This narrowing creates pressure on the spinal cord or spinal nerves at the level of compression.
Depending on which nerves are affected, spinal stenosis can cause pain or numbness in your legs, back, neck, shoulders or arms; limb weakness and incoordination; loss of sensation in your extremities; and problems with bladder or bowel function. Pain is not always present, particularly if you have spinal stenosis in your neck.
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Valley Pain Consultants offer patients diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis who might not be appropriate surgical candidates, an innovative treatment option, Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD), as well as the following procedures:
Spondylolisthesis is a condition of the spine whereby one of the vertebra slips forward or backward compared to the next vertebra. Spondylolisthesis can lead to a deformity of the spine as well as a narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis) or compression of the exiting nerve root.
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There are a variety of treatments for spondylolisthesis; Valley Pain Consultants use a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care that enhances a patient's opportunity for relief of this chronic pain condition.
Vertebral compression fractures occur when the bones of the spine become broken due to trauma. Usually the trauma required to break the bones of the spine is quite intense. In certain circumstances, however, such as in elderly people and in people with cancer, these same bones can break with little or no force.
The vertebrae most commonly broken are those in the lower back. Causes of compression fractures of vertebrae include osteoporosis, trauma and pathologic fracture (due to a pre-existing disease).
In addition to medications and surgery, Valley Pain Consultants offer patients suffering with vertebral compression fractions two minimally invasive treatment options for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures: