Chronic Pain Management | Multidisciplinary Approach
Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts beyond 3 months and extends past normal tissue healing time. There are an estimated 600,000 people with Chronic Pain in the Republic of Ireland alone. Approximately 20% are living with Chronic Pain at a severe level.
Pain relief should be declared a fundamental human right as per the central theme adopted by IASP, EFIC and the WHO at a conference in Geneva on the 11th of October 2004.
Drug Therapy: Non-prescription and Prescription
- Over-the-counter pain medications may give you temporary pain relief.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are more effective than non-prescription drugs in providing pain relief but are not recommended for long use. Only to be taken as directed by the Pain Specialist. Topical pain relievers can be used as well.
Long-term use and or Overuse can result in serious side effects.
Physiotherapy
- Rehabilitation exercises. Exercise through personalised programs can help gradually increase the strength of specific muscles aiming to at improving functioning in specific tasks.
It is important to get the balance between exercise and exertion without exacerbating the pain. This fine balance between pain reduction with a long-term increase in functioning is the most important consideration in chronic pain rehab. This is different on individual bases and requires a tailored plan for your pain
Trigger Point Injections
Trigger point injection is a procedure used to treat painful areas of muscle that contain trigger points, or knots of muscle that form when muscles are tense.
Using a small needle, the doctor injects a local anaesthetic and steroid into the painful trigger point. Usually, a brief course of treatment may result in sustained pain relief.
Trigger point injection is used to treat muscle pain in the arms, legs, lower back, and neck. This approach has also been used to treat fibromyalgia, tension headaches, and myofascial pain syndrome (chronic pain involving tissue that surrounds muscle) that does not respond to other treatments.
Botox injections use a toxin called onabotulinum toxin A to temporarily prevent a muscle from moving. Used to treat muscle stiffness/spasms and chronic migraines.
The administered dose, number of injections, site of injections, and how often you receive the medication will be determined by your condition and your response to therapy.
Regenerative treatments
- PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) refers to plasma that has a high concentration of platelets. Human blood contains red and white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Platelets produce the necessary bioactive proteins and growth factors to initiate the healing process and reduce inflammation and pain most naturally. PRP injections induce the regeneration and repair of damaged tissues, hence the name regenerative treatment. The platelets are extracted from your own blood and made into a concentrated solution utilizing a centrifuge.
- BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate) Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC) is a non-surgical, minimally invasive, regenerative treatment.
This treatment is particularly useful in chronic joint pain. It harnesses the body’s inbuilt capacity to heal through the assistance of naturally secreted biological growth factors. BMAC utilises mesenchymal stem cells collected from your bone marrow to aid in accelerating the healing of moderate to severe osteoarthritis and tendon injuries. At the sight of an injury, BMSCs secrete very high concentrations of tissue and cell-specific substances that support, maximize and direct self-repair and regeneration. These natural chemicals have an anti-inflammatory role. They modify the immune response of the body. This blocks the inflammatory pathways, produces anti-inflammatory macrophages and increases anti-bacterial activity to provide long-term pain relief.
The results of this treatment may vary on an individual basis, and it is difficult to determine the degree of pain relief to be achieved before performing the procedure.
What Do I Do Next?
The most important part of any treatment is reaching a proper diagnosis.
Dr Gehad El Bastawisy, a Pain Management Specialist with 30 years of experience, was the first doctor to introduce regenerative medicine for pain management in Ireland.
On arrival at one of our clinics Regenecare Pain Management in Cork, Dublin, or Cavan, Dr Gehad will perform a full physical examination and review of radiological scans. He will then draft out all available treatment plan options for your case and condition to provide you with the most pain relief possible. In most cases it will be a combination of treatment protocols.
Book an appointment with Dr Gehad and take the first step of your treatment journey with Regenecare Pain Management.
A referral letter is not required.