Expert surgical advice and comprehensive non surgical care
We understand the thought of surgery can be overwhelming. At Neurosurgery & Spine Consultants (NSC), we offer the most advanced nonsurgical treatments to help keep you active and out of pain.
Consistent with our team approach, our pain care physicians support our neurosurgeons by providing powerful, nonsurgical therapies that offer rapid, sustained pain relief. Plus, we provide a state-of-the-art procedure room at our main medical facility. This “one-stop-shop” allows us to reduce or eliminate your pain without the hassle of hospitals and outpatient surgical centers.
NSC views narcotic pain medication as a temporary treatment for post-operative pain, not for providing long-term relief.
What is a pain management physician?
Our highly skilled pain physicians, are board certified in both anesthesiology and pain management. This extensive training has given them a comprehensive understanding of the human nervous system—the communication network for pain. Leveraging this knowledge, our pain care doctors use a variety of nonsurgical techniques to quiet the aggravated nerves that are causing your discomfort.
At our main medical center office, patients can choose conscience sedation to help reduce anxiety, apprehension and pain during your procedure.
Providing effective solutions for both sudden and chronic pain conditions.
The cause of pain is sometimes straightforward. However, most of the conditions below can produce similar symptoms (depending on location), including localized pain, pain that radiates into the arms and legs, numbness, tingling and loss of mobility. Therefore, solving your pain can be tricky and requires a dedicated, well-trained pain specialist. Fortunately, our physicians have an exceptional record of relieving many painful conditions, including:
- Neck, upper/lower back and spine pain
- Wrist, elbow, knee and other joint pain
- Degenerative disc disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinitis
- Spinal stenosis
- Sciatica and other radiating nerve pain (radiculopathy)
- Herniated, bulging or ruptured discs
- Facet joint syndrome
- Fractured vertebrae
Nonsurgical pain treatments are often a first line of defense against many of the same conditions treated by our neurosurgeons.
While our neurosurgeons must often surgically treat many of the conditions listed above, you can delay your need for surgery by seeing one of our pain physicians within 10 days.
A key benefit of seeking pain relief here at NSC is the unique collaboration between our neurosurgeons and pain care specialists. Your pain doctor and neurosurgeon have an integrated electronic medical chart detailing all of your symptoms, office visits, radiographic imaging, etc. thus increasing the efficiency and satisfaction of your outcomes. Together, they can assess the stage of your condition and determine the treatment that will give you the most effective, long-term pain relief.
Additionally, in the unfortunate event that you do require neurosurgery in the future, we’re able to maintain excellent continuity of care by having both neurosurgeons and pain management doctors under one roof—no extra paperwork, insurance mismatches or other errors (administrative and clinical) associated with transferring facilities.
Offering the full spectrum of today’s most advanced pain care treatments.
Some of our safe, effective, nonsurgical pain treatments include:
- Epidural steroid injections – Reduces inflammation and pain associated with many lower back conditions, such as bulging discs, sciatica and bone spurs and others. This is done in conjunction with live fluoroscopic imaging in our procedure room at main medical center office.
- Advanced nerve blocks – Including medial branch, sympathetic and selective nerve blocks. These treatments numb the nerves that send pain signals to your brain. By blocking the transmission of certain nerves, we can determine the source of your pain… and the solve it.
- Back braces – Fitted and dispensed by our office, back braces provide extra support to your spine, relieving pain and helping certain conditions heal, such as minor fractured vertebrae.
- Radiofrequency procedures – Using a combination of radio waves and heat, we can effectively shut off nerves from sending pain signals to your brain, relieving both joint and spine pain.
- Ultrasound-guided joint injections – Using ultrasound imaging, we can precisely target the source of your joint pain with a steroid injection (such as cortisone) that reduces inflammation.
- Spinal cord stimulator (SCS) – In patients with permanent nerve damage—which can be caused by diabetes, postponing treatment, autoimmune diseases and previous surgeries—SCS therapy can provide permanent relief. We’ll insert two small electrical leads into your spinal column, next to the location of your pain. When activated, the device delivers constant, painless electrical stimulation to the back. This mutes the nerves in the area, preventing them from transmitting pain signals to the brain.
- Facet rhizotomy – We insert a small probe into your painful facet joint, heating up the nerves and “turning off” the pain signals. We perform this procedure with great care and under X-ray guidance, and most patients recover in a single day.
- Vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty – These are similar procedures that involve filling a fractured vertebra with special cement, restoring its structural integrity and relieving pain. Our neurosurgeons will perform this procedure at our main medical center location.
Putting off evaluating and treating your pain will often result in worsening symptoms, and you may require a more complex procedure to find relief. Schedule an appointment with one of our pain care physicians immediately to simplify your treatment and maximize your outcome!
To schedule an appointment or learn more about how Neurosurgery & Spine Consultants specializes in nonsurgical pain treatments in the greater San Antonio area. Call 210-255-8935 today. You can also request an appointment using the form on this page.