Studies link chronic pain to several serious health problems, including restricted mobility, depression, and opioid dependency. If traditional chronic pain treatments leave you feeling frustrated and hopeless, board-certified interventional pain management specialist and anesthesiologist Carl A. Hess, MD, has good news. With over 30 years of experience in the pain management field, Dr. Hess knows how to treat conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, muscle spasms, trigger points, and others without medication. He uses state-of-the-art procedures to relieve your pain directly at its origin. Call the office in Fullerton, California, or use online booking to request an appointment today.
Dozens of conditions can cause chronic pain, but some of the most common include:
Arthritis triggers changes in your joints, which can cause chronic pain in nearly any part of your body. It may cause chronic pain in your back, shoulder, hip, knee, wrist, and anywhere you have joints.
Fibromyalgia causes bodywide pain that’s often worse in specific areas like your lower back, shoulder, hip, arm, leg, chest, and jaw.
Chronic headaches cause the obvious head pain and can also trigger neck and upper shoulder pain.
Muscle spasms are involuntary muscle contractions that can happen nearly anywhere in your body. They’re especially common in the back and neck.
Trigger points are tiny knots of tight muscle fibers within a muscle. They’re incredibly painful and often multiply around injuries. Trigger points are often a factor in neck pain, back pain, and conditions like fibromyalgia.
Neuropathy is nerve pain that stems from either a disease like diabetes or nerve damage within your peripheral or central nervous system. The pain can occur in your back, neck, legs, jaw, or nearly anywhere in the body.
Chronic pain can stem from many other causes, including injury, illness, and poor healing after surgery. Regardless of the cause, Dr. Hess has pain solutions for you at his practice.
In his 30 years of interventional pain management and anesthesia experience, Dr. Hess determined that the most effective solution for chronic pain is a three-part approach. Your treatment typically includes:
With all three components, you can expect true recovery, rather than a quick fix.
Dr. Hess recommends the right treatment for you, which may include:
Anesthesia, anti-inflammatory, and/or steroid injections can relieve pain for weeks or months.
Radiofrequency ablation renders a painful nerve inactive using heat or cold energy. It can last up to 24 months.
Stem-cell and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments stimulate natural tissue regeneration, which can greatly reduce pain.
Spinal cord stimulators mask pain signals, changing them, so your brain doesn’t perceive pain. They’re permanent medical devices that you recharge easily at home.
Request an appointment online or call Carl A. Hess, MD, to arrange your appointment today.