Pain Management

OPTIMAL Pain & Regenerative Medicine® is dedicated to improving pain and function in patients with persistent pain who have failed to respond to routine medical care. Our medical specialists combine advanced medical knowledge, technical expertise and compassion to implement creative solutions in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with acute, chronic and cancer pain.

Pain can develop for many reasons. Pain can be acute, chronic or caused from cancer. Acute pain can be managed immediately and can improve in a short time. If pain persists after the designated healing process then you may have chronic pain. Chronic pain can worse or remain the same. In either case, it is important to address your pain with a medical professional. Cancer pain can be caused by surgery, treatment procedures including radiation therapy and chemotherapy, or from the tumor itself. Effective pain management is essential to comprehensive cancer care.

Pain management can be simple or complex. The treatment of pain is guided by the history of the pain, its intensity, duration, aggravating and relieving conditions, and structures involved in causing the pain. Pain management identifies the precise source of the problem and uses the optimal treatment option to relieve pain.

Below is a partial list of pain management procedures that OPTIMAL provides.

Nervo HF10 Therapy

HF10 therapy, Nevro’s proprietary spinal cord stimulation, uses a 10,000Hz frequency along with additional propriety factors to provide superior chronic pain relief without paresthesia. The HF10 is implanted in the lower back or buttock area and relieves pain without the troublesome sensation of traditional SCS systems.

St. Jude Axium™ Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation System

The St. Jude Axium™ Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation System is the first and only neurostimulation device designed for dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation. This system delivers a form of spinal stimulation that gives physicians the ability to treat the specific areas of the body where pain occurs.

Epidural Steroid Injections

An epidural injection places anti-inflammatory medicine into the epidural space to decrease inflammation of the nerve roots, hopefully reducing the pain in your back or legs. The epidural injection may help the injury to heal by reducing inflammation. It may provide permanent relief, or provide a period of pain relief for several months while the injury or cause of your pain is healing.

Selective Nerve Root Injections

A SNRB helps pin point the specific spinal nerve root that is inflamed or compressed within the lower back that is causing radiating pain. This treatment is a less invasive, longer-term pain relief solution for those experiencing lower back pain, neck pain, and lower and upper extremity pain as a result of irritated spinal nerves.

Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation, otherwise known as SCS, is a chronic pain treatment that delivers small electrical pulses to the pain sensing pathways of the spinal cord. SCS alters the pain signals traveling to the brain, leading to a decreased pain level.

Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections

A transforaminal epidural steroid injection is an injection of long acting steroid into the side of the spine where the nerve root exits; this area is known as the foramen. This injection reduces the inflammation and swelling of the spinal nerve roots, and alleviates lower back pain.

Catheter Guided Epidural Steroid Injections

The most common reason for the use of catheter guided injections is severe or prolonged back or neck pain. This procedure is highly effective in patients who experience back pain as a result of a disc or facet condition related to aging or arthritis.

Facet/Medial Branch Injections

Medial branch nerves are the very small nerve branches that communicate pain caused by the facet joints in the spine. These nerves do not control any muscles or sensation in the arms or legs. They are located along a bony groove in the low back and neck and over a bone in the mid back.

Radiofrequency lesioning (Rhizotomy)

This procedure is done to treat pain caused by the facet joints by creating a lesion or burn in the pain fibers to the facet joint, also known as the medial branch of the posterior primary ramus. The purpose of radiofrequency lesioning of the medial branch nerves is to decrease pain and improve function.

Ultrasound Guided Injections

Ultrasound allows the soft tissue structures such as, muscles, tendons, ligaments, arteries and nerves to be visualized. The benefit to using ultrasound during injections is to increases accuracy and minimizes the risk of injury to adjacent nerves or blood vessels.

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Peripheral Arterial Disease

Spinal cord stimulation for peripheral arterial disease is a therapy that uses electrical impulses to decrease pain from being perceived in the brain. Instead of pain, the patient feels a more pleasant tingling sensation. Most patients report a 50%- 70% decrease in pain. The goal is to lower the level of pain and make it more manageable.

Botox For Migraines

Chronic migraines are one of the most disabling forms of headaches. OPTIMAL Pain & Regenerative Medicine® offers Botox injections for patients living in the Dallas, Ft. Worth and Arlington communities who are suffering from chronic headaches.

Cortisone and Steroid Injections

Individuals who have experienced pain and inflammation may be familiar with a cortisone injection or a steroid injection. Both of these injections are highly effective in treating various conditions such as arthritis, gout, bursitis and tendinitis.

Balloon Kyphoplasty

Balloon kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat a spinal fracture caused by osteoporosis, menopause, or other health conditions. Balloon kyphoplasty utilizes small orthopedic balloons that are guided into the vertebral body, and then inflated to raise the collapsed vertebral body and return to its correct position.

Trigger Point Injections

Many people suffer from sore, sensitive spots in their muscles, or trigger points. When other treatment options such as physical therapy do not help alleviate muscle pain, a trigger point injection is a viable option.

Sympathetic Nerve Blocks

A sympathetic nerve block involves injecting medicine around the sympathetic nerves in the lumbar or cervical area. By doing this, the system is temporarily blocked in hopes of reducing or eliminating your pain.

Intercostal Nerve/Rib blocks

An intercostal nerve block is a rib fracture treatment designed to treat pain in the chest and upper abdomen. The intercostal nerve is located between the ribs throughout the thoracic area. When a steroid, anesthetic or pain medication is injected in to that area, the transmission of pain signals is diminished and inflammation is reduced.

Occipital Nerve Blocks

Inflammation and swelling around the occipital nerve can be the source of headache pain. An occipital nerve block is an injection of steroid around the occipital nerves located in the back of the head just above the neck area. The steroid injection reduces inflammation and swelling of tissue around the nerve.

Tennis Elbow Injections

When non-surgical treatment options such as rest, ice and bracing do not improve symptoms, PRP injections to treat tennis and golfer’s elbow is a viable treatment alternative. Today, physicians use PRP injections to treat acute ligament injuries like tennis and golfer’s elbow.

Intrathecal Pump Placement For Spasticity/Pain

Intrathecal pain therapy works by delivering small doses of analgesic directly to the pain receptors in the spinal cord, blocking the message to the brain. Because the doses are small and applied directly at the site of pain receptors, the entire body is not flooded with medications, and therefore negative side effects such as grogginess, confusion and over-sedation are usually avoided.

DISC Nucleoplasty

DISC nucleoplasty is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure used to decompress herniated discs in the neck or back. This herniated disc treatment is designed for patients who did not respond to conventional treatment methods.

MILD Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression

Lumbar spinal stenosis is often caused by degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis and spondylolisthesis. Symptoms can include leg pain, back pain, neck pain. Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD) is may be a viable treatment option for you.

Discograms

A discogram is a test used to identify the exact source of pain in the neck or lower back. A discogram test stresses one or more discs to reproduce pain in order to identify the exact location and cause of pain. This is the only spinal test that is provocative (the suspected abnormality is deliberately induced by manipulating conditions known to provoke it).

Vertebroplasty

Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that stabilizes the spinal fracture and eliminates pain caused by the fracture. To begin, the patient is lightly sedated and injected with a local anesthesia.

Biaculoplasty

A biacuplasty is a bulging disc treatment option for patients suffering from chronic pain in the neck or back. This treatment is a minimally invasive procedure that offers long term relief to patients when other traditional treatment options such as rest, physical therapy and medication have failed.

Genicular Nerve Block

When chronic osteoarthritis of the knee cannot be managed with conventional pain management treatments, a genicular nerve block may be the solution. A genicular nerve block is a minimally invasive, non-surgical treatment option that can be used when other treatments have failed. By applying radiofrequency (RF) energy to the genicular nerves, a physician can effectively relieve knee pain.

Stellate Ganglion Blocks

A stellate ganglion block is performed to create a nerve block to the sympathetic nerves that go to the arms and face. This in turn may reduce pain and swelling and improve mobility in patients who suffer from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Herpes Zoster (shingles) and other conditions.

Celiac Plexus Blocks

A celiac plexus nerve block is an abdominal pain treatment that uses a local anesthetic to block the celiac plexus nerves that transmit pain signals from the abdominal area to the brain. The celiac plexus is a bundle of nerves that surrounds the main artery leading into the abdomen, the aorta.

Plantar Fasciitis Injections

Platelet rich plasma injections have been used in operating rooms for trauma wound healing and to stimulate bone formation in spinal fusion surgery for decades. Today, physicians are using PRP injections to treat acute ligament injuries like plantar fasciitis.

Spinal Cord Stimulator

A spinal cord stimulator can be used to treat chronic back pain associated with failed back surgery syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome, peripheral neuropathy and other back conditions. A spinal cord stimulator uses low voltage stimulation of the spinal nerves to block the feeling of pain.

Epidural Lysis Of Adhesions

Epidural Lysis of Adhesions is a more aggressive approach to a typical Epidural Steroid Injection. An epidural lysis of adhesions is a procedure that was developed to help decrease chronic low back pain due to adhesions and scar tissue formation. This is a catheter injected procedure and is inserted into the epidural space in order to access the area of adhesions.

Percutaneous Discectomy

Percutaneous discectomy is an effective, minimally invasive procedure designed for lower back pain associated with a lumbar herniated disc. Pain is alleviated with this procedure due to decompression of the spinal discs and facet joints.

Carpal Tunnel Injections

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a hand and arm condition that causes wrist pain, numbness, tingling, and other troublesome symptoms. Our team at OPTIMAL Pain & Regenerative Medicine® offer carpal tunnel injections to patients living in the Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Arlington, Texas area. A simple carpal tunnel injection may be all you need to keep wrist pain under control.

Viscosupplement Injection

A viscosupplement injection is an osteoarthritis knee treatment that acts as a lubricant for the knee joint. The injection is a dose of hyaluronic acid that is injected into the knee and into the synovial fluid. This gel-like fluid acts as a lubricant to enable the bones to move smoothly over each other and as a shock absorber for joint loads.

Temporomandibular Joint Injections

Temporomandibular joint injection is an intra-articularis injection that uses local anesthetics or corticosteroids. The corticosteroid suppresses the immune system so inflammation is reduced, leading to a reduction of pain.

Sacroiliac Joint Injections

A sacroiliac joint injection is used to diagnose and treat SI joint pain. This is an in-office procedure. To begin, a local anesthetic is used to numb the sacroiliac joint. A fluoroscopy (x-ray guidance) is used to increase injection accuracy. The needle is then placed in the sacroiliac joint – a contrast dye is injected into the joint to ensure proper needle placement through the fluoroscopy.

Piriformis Injections

Once the proper assessment and a diagnosis has been given for piriformis syndrome, there are a number of treatment options that can be initially taken. When conservative treatments do not help decrease pain a simple in-office piriformis injection can be considered.

Sphenopalantine Ganglion Block

A sphenopalatine ganglion block is a minimally invasive migraine treatment used to treat headaches and facial pain by the use of an injection. This procedure has been used by pain management physicians for many years to treat migraine pain.

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Angina

Angina pectoris can cause chest pain, pressure and heaviness as a result of an imbalance of blood supply and oxygen supply to the heart. A treatment option called spinal cord stimulation for angina is effective for many individuals.

Michael Phillips, MD

Average rating:

11 reviews

Donna phillips

Jan 17, 2023

by Donna phillips on Michael Phillips, MD

Dr Phillips is a wonderful pain Dr, he has managed my pain for several years and listens to my concerns and meets my needs

Kristi Moten

Apr 4, 2019

by Kristi Moten on Michael Phillips, MD

Great Doctor!!!

He has helped my pain level drop by about 80%. I feel so much better and want to say "THANK YOU" to Dr. Phillips!

Yvette Mitchell

Mar 20, 2019

by Yvette Mitchell on Michael Phillips, MD

If you're looking for an excellent Pain Control Doctor!

Dr. Michael Phillips is amazing! I was in extreme pain when I was referred to Dr. Phillips after my family & I agreed to not have "back surgery & later a big back surgery" as previously informed by a Neurologist I would need right away. Dr. Phillips reviewed my x-rays & MRI film prior to my appointment. Due to his experience & great patient care, we were given wonderful news! Dr. Phillips informed us that what I needed to have done was an outpatient, non-evasive quick back procedure after which I could return to work within the same week! After months of severe back & sciatic nerve pain daily, I found all he told me to be true. I'm so fortunate to have someone who truly cares about patient outcomes! Many thanks to him and his Medical Assistant for caring, one patient at a time.

Sincere thanks, The Mitchell's Family

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