My name is Asim Aijaz, M.D., I’ve been practicing pain management for over 15 years in the Austin area. One of the more common misconceptions I hear from patients is they think pain management physicians only offer addictive pain medications to treat pain. I’ve decided to write this blog post to help dispel that misconception and offer some insight into what I can do for you to help your pain without needing to start opiate pain medications.
Many of the chronic pains that I see in my day-to-day practice are pains that respond very favorably to minimally invasive interventional treatments, procedures that can often be performed through a needle. The procedures are very safe, I use an x-ray machine to guide my needle to the appropriate location for the injection. The injections can be used to treat chronic neck pain, back pain, joint pains, sciatica, nerve pain, peripheral neuropathy, and even chronic pain following surgery. Sometimes injections only offer limited or short-term relief, in those incidences we can consider other treatments such as rhizotomy (also known as nerve burning) or spinal cord stimulation, treatments that are less invasive than spine surgery.
One of the unique aspects of pain management as a specialty is that it continues to evolve. There are newer minimally invasive spine procedures that we offer at Ascent Pain Solutions that go beyond standard injections or traditional rhizotomy. One of these fascinating procedures is endoscopic rhizotomy. If traditional rhizotomy, or nerve-burning procedures have not been offering lasting relief for your chronic lower back pain, endoscopic rhizotomy is a treatment option that can offer longer lasting relief, often for several years. This has been a great treatment for chronic lower back pain attributed to arthritis in the spine.
Other minimally invasive spine procedures we can perform at Ascent Pain Solutions include: Facet joint stabilization, minimally invasive lumbar decompression, sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion, spinal cord stimulation (SCS), DRG stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, ViaDisc (procedure performed through a needle to help supplement a lumbar disc), and endoscopic discectomy.
If you are interested in exploring any of these treatment options for chronic pain, please call and make an appointment to see Dr. Raymond Yu or Dr. Asim Aijaz. 512-994-4159. Same day and next day appointments are available.