Pain Medicine Side Effects

Get relief from pain without the risks of powerful pain medicines

Tampa pain specialist Dr. Rodolfo Gari from Florida Pain Relief Group appeared on DayTime recently to talk about the risks associated with pain medicines.

Often the first line of defense against chronic pain is to seek relief in the form of powerful pain medications. However there are other pain management techniques and approaches that should be considered.

While some relief may be felt, there are significant side effects that should be considers. Those include the potential of addiction and lasting effects to your body’s internal organs.

Our Tampa pain specialists at our Tampa pain relief centers in East Tampa, North Tampa and Carrollwood are experienced in the treatment of chronic pain using many different procedures and techniques.

Watch the video here.

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Are Compressed Nerves Being a Pain

A compressed or pinched nerve is one of the main reasons you experience back, neck, wrist or leg pain. The delicate nerve fibers get trapped, pinched, squeezed, or injured by a variety of external or internal situations and the neurotransmitters that signal “pain” to the brain go off.

Causes of a compressed nerve can vary from an injury to poor posture to degenerative disorders to obesity. Additionally, the compressed nerve can be a result of a combination of factors.

The pressure on the nerve by surrounding bones, cartilage, muscles, or tendons needs to be relieved sooner than later, or that pain will continue to slow you down – not to mention the nerve can endure permanent damage if not tended to.

We’ve gone into detail about pinched nerves in our conditions section, but let’s recap some of the symptoms you may experience.

Compressed Nerve Symptoms

The following is a small selection of common symptoms of a compressed nerve:

  • Numbness
  • Radiating pain that stems from one specific location
  • Muscle weakness
  • Feeling as if the area has “fallen asleep”

Medical Treatment for a Compressed Nerve

Our specialists offer many solutions for your compressed nerve pain including minimally invasive procedures and physical therapy. Below are a few highlighted pain management options you can receive:

  • Nerve blocks. A nerve block is an anesthetic or anti-inflammatory injection into a particular nerve or group of nerves for pain relief. The aim is to block pain signal(s) coming from a specific location in the body and/or decrease inflammation in that area.
  • Trigger point injections. A Trigger Point Injection (TPI) is an intra-muscular injection of a local anesthetic into muscle trigger points, often accompanied by an anti-inflammatory steroid, to combat specific pain points and chronic pain usually resulting from an injury to the muscle(s) in question.
  • Pulsed radiofrequency. Pulsed radiofrequency treatment is very effective at treating the more difficult types of chronic pain that usually originate from either irritated or damaged nerves.
  • Physical therapy. This enables you to build strength in muscles where you are experiencing pain and weakness.

The prognosis for a full recovery from a pinched nerve is good if you don’t ignore the warning signs and get your pain checked out by a doctor sooner than later. For more information about compressed or pinched nerves, contact us today.

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Dealing With Middle Back Pain

What is the Thoracic Spine?

We always hear about lower back pain, but it’s rarely mentioned on TV spots or magazine ads about middle back pain, known to the professionals as thoracic back pain. The thoracic area is the part of the spine that starts just below your cervical spine (neck) and connects with your lumbar spine (lower back.) That’s a pretty big section of vertebrae, discs, ligaments, nerves, and tissue that can sustain injury or ailment. Let’s talk about that.

Middle back pain can be due to trauma brought on by an accident or the result of an internal disorder. Since there are several triggers or causes for the pain, we’ll provide a quick list of the most common.

Causes of Thoracic Back Pain

Below are the most common triggers for lower (and upper) back pain.

  • Herniated discs
  • Accident trauma
  • Myofascial pain
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Pinched nerves
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Stress-related disorders
  • Scoliosis
  • Cancer

Managing the Middle Back Pain

While most cases of thoracic back pain may resolve within a few weeks, the prognosis of thoracic back pain greatly depends on the underling cause and specific circumstances of your case, as well as, the method of treatment used.

Some pain relief procedures we provide here at Physician Partners of America are:

  • Facet denervation. Radiofrequency facet denervation (RFD) is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure used to treat central neck or back pain due to arthritis or injury to the facet joints.
  • Nerve blocks. A nerve block is an anesthetic or anti-inflammatory injection into a particular nerve or group of nerves for pain relief. The aim is to block pain signal(s) coming from a specific location in the body and/or decrease inflammation in that area.
  • Facet joint injections. A facet joint injection is a fairly straightforward procedure performed by using an x-ray to guide and place the needle while avoiding potential nearby nerve harm or injury.
  • Spinal cord stimulator. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is the standard treatment for patients suffering from chronic pain in their back, neck or limbs who did not achieve pain relief through other various methods.

Of course, this is just a small selection of pain management treatments we offer. For the full selection, click here.

Don’t let middle back pain take control of your life. Our pain specialists  are standing by to help. Contact us or schedule an appointment to stop by.

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Relieving work pain

Get relief from pain at work today

Tampa pain relief center specialist Dr. Rodolfo Gari recently appeared on WFLA’s show “DayTime”.

During his appearance he spoke about the kinds of chronic pain that can occur during work at the office or your place of work.

Dr. Gari calls pain the body’s “warning signal” that something more serious may be happening. At our three Tampa pain clinics in West Tampa, North Tampa and Carrollwood, our pain specialists can accurately diagnose and treat your chronic pain.

Watch the video here:

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Treating CRPS in Tampa

Get relief from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in Tampa

The pain that is associated with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS, can be debilitating and have a significant impact on an individuals quality of life.

Throughout her career, Tampa pain specialist Dr. Carissa Stone has treated patients whose pain levels were preventing them from being able to live their lives to the fullest.

But what causes CRPS?

“CRPS develops for unknown reasons and is a syndrome of findings with no other explainable cause,” said Dr. Stone.

Symptoms of CRPS can include temperature changes to a limb, pain when touching skin, pain or weakness in extremities with no motor damage,  and color changes to extremities with no vascular problems

“Usually doctors rule most other conditions out first because there used to be no treatment for CRPS,” Dr. Stone said.

CRPS is more common in women and the incidence of CRPS highest in women between the ages of 60-70, but all age groups can get it and there is no specific known cause at this time.

There are various options available for treating CRPS at our Tampa pain relief centers.

“Treatment options include the use of topical creams; neuropathic medications; sympathetic blocks and bier block injections; aggressive physical therapy to avoid disuse atrophy; desensitization treatment; and ketamine infusion therapy, Dr. Stone said.

In addition to these treatment options, Dr. Stone is also on the cutting edge of treatment options. She is currently involved in a new study into the effectiveness of the use if Intravenous Neridronic Acid for treating CRPS.

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Treating arthritis pain

Get relief from arthritis pain in Tampa

Tampa pain specialist Dr. Rodolfo Gari of Florida Pain Relief Group is an expert in the treatment of chronic pain due to arthritis.

In a recent appearance on the News Channel 8 program “DayTime”, Dr. Gari spoke about the various symptoms of pain from arthritis and the treatment options that exist.

You don’t have to suffer in pain from arthritis. Each of our Tampa pain doctors have years of experience treating arthritis pain using a variety of techniques and procedures.

Schedule an appointment at one of our Tampa pain relief center locations in East Tampa, North Tampa and Carrollwood.

Watch the video here:

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Headache Do’s and Don’ts

When confronted with a headache the first thought is to grab the nearest over-the-counter pain medication and wait for the pain to subside.

When that doesn’t work, you are faced with the question of what to do next.

Jonette Gozzola NP, a Dallas headache specialist, offers these Do’s and Don’ts for how to respond when a headache comes, and what next steps should be taken.

Do:

  • Seek competent medical evaluation. Migraines cause missed work, family activities and even cause problems in relationships
  • Recognize “triggers” that cause your migraines. Again, a trained clinician can help. Common triggers-stress, certain foods, sleep disturbance, weather changes
  • Keep a headache diary. Record level of intensity and frequency of all headaches.
  • Seek immediate emergency help for “’the worst headache I have ever had”

Don’t

  • Overuse rescue medications. You need to be in control of headaches not be being controlled by headaches
  • Delay seeking a headache professional for guidance and appropriate medication
  • Seek more and stronger “pain” medication. It may be poison for the person with a migraine
  • Ignore signs of a growing problem-mood disruption, decreased cognitive function, muscle tension, excessive yawning, increasing frequency, and intensity

A migraine is a condition of the nervous system that can be serious and debilitating. It is not “just a headache”. Help is available for you to control this condition and take back your life. You are a valuable person who people love and appreciate! Let us help you get back to being you!

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When Pain Medication Doesn’t Work

Chronic pain sufferers will try almost anything to achieve relief from their pain symptoms. Typically the first line of defense are various pain medications, both over-the-counter and prescribed by a physician.

However, pain medication cannot be guaranteed to always work as prescribed or as intended. Over the years medical research has revealed that not every person absorbs medication the same ways, and that over time our body will change how it reacts to medications.

Pain physicians have a number of ways to combat this issue in patients.

“This is a situation known as tachyphylaxis where more medication is needed to achieve the same effect,” said Dr. Rodolfo Gari, Tampa pain specialist with Florida Pain Relief Group. “Many believe that tachyphylaxis occurs because our bodies increase the number of receptors necessary to achieve pain control and therefore more medication is needed to achieve the same effect.”

Typically a patient does not want to increase their existing medication dosages, but instead find a combination or approach that works best.

“A way to counter this without increasing dosage is to switch the medication to a different class of opioid that works in different receptors,” Dr. Gari said. “For example, switching from hydrocodone to oxycodone or switching from morphine to methadone for a short period of time can restore the original effect. We can then switch back to the original medication with better results at a lower dosage.”

For patients who don’t experience relief from a change in medications may be good candidates for a test called Pharmacogenomics. This test will help a doctor to prescribe medication based on more than symptoms.

“Pharmacogenomics is a field of medicine that matches our unique genetic make up with the medications that work best for us,” Dr. Gari said. “We have all experienced ‘trials’ of different medications until we find one that works. Pharmacogenomics allows us to use the right medication the first time.”

All of our pain doctors in Tampa offer pharmacogenomics testing to their patients. Schedule an appointment at any of our Tampa pain relief centers in East Tampa, North Tampa and Carrollwood.

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Pain After Back Surgery

Get Relief from Pain After Back Surgery

When making the decision to go forward with back surgery, the hope is that by having the procedure done it will reduce or eliminate pain.

The reality is that back surgery can be unsuccessful and ultimately leave you with the same level of pain, or even greater pain, than when you first had the procedure.

The issue has become so common that it has a name: Failed Back Syndrome. Tampa pain specialist Dr. Jorge Leal with Physician Partners of America has this first-hand in his patients over the years.

“Sometimes the pain can occur immediately after the surgery.The pain you feel does not get better,” Dr. Leal said. “Sometimes it’s a period of days or weeks after the initial surgery.  The pain goes away but then it comes back.”

Symptoms of Failed Back Syndrome are varied. However, typically a patient will feel pain in their back and usually down one or both of the lower extremities.

“A patient could feel numbness in their legs, tingling sensations and also muscle atrophy,” Dr. Leal said. “If the nerves have been damaged, there could be a loss of reflexes, depending on the degree of residual damage.”

Physician Partners of America offers patients pain relief without surgery.

Treating failed back syndrome can be done using conventional measures such as physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medication. Another option is nerve blocks if they have not been tried in the past.

“If no further surgical treatment is required or desirable, then we look at implantable devices like spinal cord stimulation or a morphine pump,” Dr. Leal said.

The prognosis for someone with Failed Back Syndrome varies widely based on the kind of surgery that was performed and where the pain is coming from. Sometimes the pain will subside with treatment, but it is not a guarantee.

“What we can do is, through various diagnostic nerve blocks, we can identify the pain generator,” said Dr. Leal.  “From there we can concentrate on it and determine the best course of treatment for such a pain generator.”

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Pain from a car accident

Get relief from pain caused by a car accident

Tampa pain specialist Dr. Rodolfo Gari with Florida Pain Relief Group recently appeared on News Channel 8’s program “DayTime” to talk about pain from a car accident.

In the event of a car accident a person can experience a number of different injuries, from whiplash to broken bones and more.

At Florida Pain Relief Group our physicians have years of experience treating several types of pain that are the result of a car accident.

Our pain specialists can successfully diagnose, treat and relieve your pain at any of our Tampa pain relief center locations.

Watch the video to learn more.

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