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Pain Management

Ioannis M Skaribas, MD, DABA, FASA -  - Anesthesiology

Expert Pain

Ioannis M Skaribas, MD, DABA, FASA

Anesthesiology & Pain Management located in Memorial Area, Houston, TX

Pain management plays a vital role in helping you cope with chronic and severe pain. At Expert Pain in Houston, Texas, double board-certified pain specialist Ioannis Skaribas, MD, DABA, FASA, performs a range of interventions to treat the cause of your pain. Procedures include fluoroscopy-guided epidural steroid injections, spinal cord stimulator implantation, LinQ™ sacroiliac joint fusion, and Vertiflex® interspinous spacer implantation. To benefit from the most effective pain management techniques, call Expert Pain today or book an appointment online.

Pain Management Q & A

What is pain management? 

Pain management is a strategy that uses a variety of techniques to control and relieve chronic pain.

Your provider at Expert Care creates a pain management program for you that they design around your condition and relevant factors like your age and general health.

Every patient's pain management program is unique, and your provider adapts your treatment to optimize your results.

Why might I need pain management?

Pain is a warning sign that something is wrong with your body, so when the injury heals or you recover from an illness, the pain goes away. 

However, some conditions, like cancer, cause long-term pain that can last for several years, and many disorders cause lifelong pain. Examples of conditions that might require pain management include:

  • Arthritis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Herniated discs
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
  • Neuropathy (nerve pain)
  • Bursitis
  • Osteoporosis
  • Failed back surgery syndrome

If you have a disorder that causes chronic pain, learning to manage your symptoms can help you cope and lead a more fulfilling life. 

Some of the basic principles of pain management include regular exercise and physical therapy, learning relaxation techniques, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding alcohol, smoking, and other harmful substances.

What treatments might be in my pain management program?

People living with chronic pain often require additional treatments to relieve or reduce their symptoms. Expert Pain specializes in using advanced interventions to help patients manage their pain, so your treatment program could include:

Epidural steroid injections

Epidural steroid injections contain a corticosteroid and local anesthetic that your provider at Expert Pain injects into the epidural space surrounding your spine using fluoroscopic guidance.

Facet joint injections

A facet joint injection also contains steroids and local anesthetics, but it goes into the small joints that link your vertebrae together.

Nerve blocks

Nerve blocks are another type of injection containing local anesthetic and steroids that your provider injects into the nerve cluster that's sending out pain messages.

Behavioral health assessments and therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP) helps you deal with the everyday challenges of living with chronic pain.

Radiofrequency ablation

Minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation is a procedure that destroys the pain nerves in your spine.

Neurostimulation

Neurostimulation is a technology that interferes with the pain signals going to your brain, either stopping them or replacing them with a soothing tingling sensation. 

Expert Pain uses the Nevro® HFX™ HF10 and Abbott Proclaim™ XR BurstDR™ spinal cord stimulation systems and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation, all of which require you to undergo minimally invasive implantation procedures.

You might also need treatments for specific conditions, for example, the LinQ sacroiliac joint fusion system or Vertiflex interspinous spacers for spinal stenosis.

If you have a chronic pain condition, find out more about the benefits of pain management by calling Expert Pain today, or book an appointment online.