By Brian Thoma, MD
Pain physicians function best as the first specialist a patient should go to when they have had a pain that has lasted several weeks or months. That’s because we are trained to diagnose the cause of the pain and also to determine whether the patient needs a surgical evaluation or if they need more conservative treatments first. Unfortunately, some patients assume that pain management means Opiate or Narcotic therapy. While we’re trained to manage those types of medications, they are never first-line treatments, and they are reserved for unique conditions. We’re looking to improve patients' quality of life by reducing pain and enhancing their function.
The treatments we choose to perform depends on the nature and severity of the pain. Is it new (acute) or longstanding (chronic)? We often see patients who have already tried and failed conservative treatment. In those cases, we may consider specific injections, medications, physical therapy, or bracing. The wide range of procedures we offer sets us apart and that’s a function of being fellowship trained. We do procedures every day in the office, and as anesthesiologists, we can safely do them with or without sedation based on the patient's preference. These include epidural steroid injections and nerve root blocks for patients with spinal stenosis or degenerative disc disease. These procedures have been done in small offices all over the country for years, which prevents the need for a patient to go to a hospital. In many cases having the procedure in the office will save the patient time and money compared to a more expensive setting like a hospital or outpatient surgery center. The hospitals charge same-day surgery fees that patients may not even know about when comparing to our services.
Probably 70 to 80 percent of our practice involves treating spine pain and the majority of those patients are coming to us for chronic low back pain, which we define as low back pain for at least three months. The 25 percent of our patient population include people who suffer with arthritis, compression fractures, and neuropathy or peripheral nerve pain. Some of them are come in because they are want to avoid surgery, while others may be dealing with chronic pain despite having had surgery.
We don’t need a referral to see a patient. However, a few insurances will require a referral from a PCP in order to cover our service, and in those instances, we assist you by reaching out to the PCP if one is needed. Patients can request a visit on our website: www.cahabapain.com
Brian Thoma, MD is a founder and physician at Cahaba Pain and Spine Care. He is board certified in both pain management and in anesthesiology, and has been a practicing pain physician for 15 years.
