Specialty
Pain Management Center
Pain can impact your life in so many ways. If pain is keeping you from living your life, performing daily activities and doing things you love, there is hope.
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Pain Management Center
Mankato
About
Mankato Clinic Pain Management Center offers innovative pain treatments. Our goal is to help patients restore function, relieve pain and renew hope.
What can you expect at the Mankato Clinic Pain Management Center?
Our goal is to provide you with an exceptional patient experience. At your first visit, one of our providers, will take a detailed patient history. This is an important step for a successful diagnosis. Our specialized providers use their years of experience and expertise to identify the source of your pain, recommend treatment options and create a personalized plan. We offer a wide range of advanced, minimally invasive therapies to treat pain and get your life back.
How can I schedule an appointment?
You can call 507-625-7246 to schedule an appointment. Most insurance plans require a referral, so we do recommend that you call your insurance provider to check what is required for services at the Mankato Clinic Pain Management Center.
Early intervention can make a difference. Talk with your primary care provider today about the Mankato Clinic Pain Management Center.
All-in Approach
We treat the whole person. Our providers work with each patient to develop a comprehensive, individualized treatment plan that may include:
- Interventional procedures
- Psychological therapies
- Medication management
- Co-management of patients with physical therapy and occupational therapy
- Lifestyle modifications such as exercise, diet, and smoking cessation
- Complementary and alternative medicine such as acupuncture and massage therapy
Back pain symptoms may include feelings of muscle ache, stabbing or shooting pain, stiff or limited flexibility in the back or lower back, inability to stand with proper posture and radiating pain down one or both legs.
Neck pain can occur from the top of your shoulders to the bottom of your head. Neck pain symptoms may be mild to severe and can limit your range of motion and cause you to seek neck pain management.
Degenerative Disc Disease is the weakening of one or more vertebral discs, which normally act as a cushion between the vertebrae. This condition can develop as a natural part of the aging process, but it may also result from injury to the back.
A herniated disc occurs usually with gradual wear and tear of the disc, called disc degeneration. The center of a vertebral disc is fluid filled and loss of this fluid can lead to less flexibility and increased risk to tear or rupture. When the fluid filled, soft, central region of the disc (nucleus pulposus) pushes through a tear in the outer ring of the disc, a disc herniation, rupture or fragmenting of the disc can occur into the spinal canal.
The classic sciatica pain symptom is pain that starts in the lower back and radiates (travels) to the buttock and down the back of the leg possibly to include the foot and toes.
Radiculopathy means irritation or compression of one or more spinal nerve roots as these nerve roots exit the spinal canal and enter the peripheral nervous system at any spinal level.
In the cervical and thoracic spine these nerves travel to the shoulders, arms and hands, trunk and around the ribs. An injury to the cervical or thoracic spine can cause symptoms of pain, numbness and tingling in these areas.
Cervical and thoracic radiculopathy may result from a variety of problems with the bones, discs and tissues of the spinal column in the neck or upper back.
A pinched nerve occurs when a nerve in the neck is compressed or irritated where it branches away from the spinal cord. This may cause pain that radiates into the shoulder and/or arm, as well as muscle weakness and numbness.
Spinal stenosis is a condition involving any type of narrowing of the spinal canal or nerve-root canals in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar regions of the spine. The narrowing of the spinal canal results in compression of, or pressure upon, the spinal nerves and nerve roots, causing a number of spinal stenosis pain symptoms, including back pain, feelings of cramping or weakness in the back and lower extremity pain.
Facet Joint Syndrome is a deterioration of the facet joints, which help stabilize the spine and limit excessive motion. The facet joints are lined with cartilage and are surrounded by a lubricating capsule that enables the vertebrae to bend and twist.
Spondylolisthesis occurs when a lumbar vertebra slips out of place. It slides forward, distorting the shape of your spine. This may compress the nerves in the spinal canal. The nerves that exit the foramen (open spaces on the sides of your vertebrae) may also be compressed. These compressed nerves can cause pain and other problems.
Compression fractures are small breaks in the vertebrae. A compression fracture is typically caused by a loss of bone mass (osteoporosis) that occurs as part of aging. A fall, cough, or lifting of a heavy object may cause a fracture of the back bones. Symptoms include back pain, lost height, and a hunched-forward posture.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), previously called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), is a condition that generally affects an arm or a leg but can affect other body parts. CRPS is a neuropathic pain condition – that means it is caused by a malfunction within the nervous system that may develop after surgery, fracture, sprain, or other injury.
Peripheral Neuropathy is a problem with the peripheral nervous system. These are the nerves that branch out from your brain and spinal cord and travel to all of the other parts of your body.
Diabetic neuropathic pain results from damaged nerves and can feel like sharp pain, burning, tingling or numbness in the arms/hands and legs/feet.
Joint pain, also called arthritis or arthralgia, can happen in any joint, or the point where two or more bones meet. Symptoms include a sore sensation each time you move your joint. Painful joints can include wrists, elbows, shoulders, hip, knees and ankles.
If you have lost a limb or another part of your body, you may feel painful sensations that seem to be coming from the missing part. This phenomenon is called “phantom pain.” It is common among amputees. It can become a chronic problem for some people.
Piriformis Syndrome is a pain and numbness you feel in your buttock and down the back of your leg. It involves the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve a large nerve that travels from your lower spine down to your foot.
Pain, numbness and tingling in your hand may be from carpal tunnel syndrome.. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a medical condition that causes the median nerve in the wrist to become compressed. The median nerve and several tendons (flexor tendons that allow us to flex our fingers and wrist) run from the forearm to the hand through a small space in the wrist called the carpal tunnel, bound by bones (carpal bones) and ligaments.
A headache of varying intensity. Migraine headaches can cause throbbing in one particular area that can vary in intensity. Nausea and sensitivity to light and sound are also common symptoms.
Whiplash injury to the spine can occur with any abrupt deceleration. Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of whiplash injury which can involve any spinal region: cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back) and lumbar (low back).
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from one side of your face to your brain.
Abdominal pain is defined as pain occurring in the belly between the chest and groin. Abdominal pain is one of the more common medical complaints and is usually self-limited and resolves without treatment.
When abdominal pain is severe, persistent or disabling, medical evaluation from an abdominal pain management clinic specialist is recommended for abdominal pain relief.
While pelvic pain is more common in women, it also affects men. The goals of the pelvic pain management program include reduction of pain, restoration of normal function and improved quality of life.
Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles. The condition affects nerve fibers and skin, causing burning pain that lasts long after the rash and blisters of shingles disappear. The postherpetic pain can last for months to years after the shingles outbreak.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition that causes widespread pain in muscles, tendons and joints with feelings of fatigue, sleep problems and fibromyalgia pain can even be associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Fibromyalgia can also create tender points which are places on the body where even slight pressure is very painful.
The pain people with cancer suffer from can vary from patient to patient. We offer multiple treatment options to manage cancer pain and we coordinate with your oncologist to provide the best care.
Our pain specialists are experienced in treating patients suffering from work injuries and car accidents. We will assist with workers’ compensation coverage and insurance plans.
Epidural steroid injection (ESI) is a technique in which corticosteroids and a local anesthetic are injected into the epidural space around the spinal cord. The epidural injection is delivered at or near the sources of the nerve pain, providing targeted relief. It is of benefit with a rare rate of major side effects.
Types of Steroid Injections:
- Cervical
- Lumbar
- Thoracic
Epidural Techniques:
- Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection
- Interlaminar Steroid Injection
- Transforaminal Steroid Injection
Your spine is made up of small bones called vertebrae. Each vertebra has flat surfaces called facets that touch where the vertebrae fit together. The space where two facets meet creates a facet joint on each side of the vertebrae. Spinal facet joints contain a rich network of pain-sensing nerve fibers. These small, delicate joints are prone to injury, degeneration and inflammation, and may cause chronic neck and back pain independent of intervertebral discs and spinal nerve roots. Facet joint pain occurs when one or more of the facet joints in your neck or back become irritated and swollen. A facet joint injection may help diagnose the source of a patient’s pain. It can also relieve pain and inflammation.
Types of Facet Joints:
- Cervical
- Lumbar
- Thoracic
The sacroiliac joint injection procedure is an injection performed to relieve pain from the joint that connects the sacrum and the ileum, which are two large bones in the low back/pelvis area above your hip socket. The sacroiliac joint injection procedure involves numbing medication that is sometimes mixed with steroids and is injected in or around the joint. Although uncommon, risks for the sacroiliac joint injection procedure may include bleeding, infection, nerve damage and allergic reaction to the medication.
Joint injection procedures are performed to increase mobility and relieve joint pain due to injury, arthritis or other causes. During the joint injection procedure, an anesthetic that is sometimes mixed with a steroid is injected into or around the joint to reduce inflammation and pain.
Joints:
- Ankle
- Elbow
- Hip
- Knee
- Shoulder
- Wrist
Trigger points are tender areas within skeletal muscle that may result from an abnormality of the muscle or occur when nerves that supply muscles become irritated.
A selective nerve root block injection is used to both diagnose and treat an inflamed spinal nerve. The procedure is an injection of a small amount of steroid and numbing medication around a very specific nerve root/spinal nerve that exits out of the spinal cord. This injection allows the doctor to determine exactly what nerve root or roots are being affected by a herniated disc, spinal stenosis or some other problem.
Types of nerve root blocks:
- Cervical
- Thoracic
- Lumbar
A sympathetic nerve block is used to both diagnose damage and treat pain caused by the sympathetic nervous system, which runs from the spinal cord to various body parts including arms and legs.
Types of sympathetic nerve blocks:
- Celiac Plexus
- Lumbar
- Ganglion
The medial branch block is an injection of numbing medicine. It bathes the medial branch nerves, which attach to the facet joints of your spine. These nerves hurt when facet joints are injured or diseased. The injection helps find the source of your pain. It may relieve your pain for a brief time.
The knee joint is surrounded by several nerve branches, known collectively as the genicular nerves. Chronic knee pain can be caused by tendinitis, injury, osteoarthritis, gout, degenerative joint disease, or after knee surgery. The physician injects an inflammation-reducing steroid mixed with local anesthetic around the nerves innervating the knee joint and may use ultrasound or fluoroscopy to maximize accuracy.
Radiofrequency nerve destruction is a useful treatment option for certain types of chronic pain including head and neck pain from whiplash injuries, chronic lumbar facet joint pain and certain types of neuralgia. With radiofrequency techniques, electromagnetic energy is transmitted into the nerve causing a coagulation of proteins within the nerve tissue. The nerve sheath itself is left intact so that painful post-procedure neuroma does not occur. The technique is very precise since the energy is delivered by a special needle placed directly onto the targeted nerve with X-ray-guided accuracy.
Types of Radiofrequency neurotomy:
- Cervical
- Lumbar
- Thoracic
This procedure, also called a “discogram,” helps your doctor find painful spinal discs to identify the source of pain in your back. Discography allows interventional pain physicians to see a disc’s internal structure and establish whether or not it is the source of pain. Even though discography has been proven to be reliable in helping physicians make a pain diagnosis, it is done only after other tests have proven to be inconclusive in pinpointing the source of pain.
Types:
- Cervical
- Lumbar
- Thoracic
Vertebroplasty– A minimally-invasive procedure for painful compression fractures of the spine. The procedure is performed using x-ray guidance to accurately place specifically-formulated acrylic bone cement into a partially-compressed vertebral body. During the vertebroplasty procedure, the bone cement is injected in fluid form through a needle placed in the skin and into the vertebral body. Before it hardens, the cement fills the spaces of the damaged bone, stabilizing the spinal fractures.
Kyphoplasty- A procedure helps correct the bone deformity and relieves the pain associated with spinal compression fractures. It was designed to treat spinal fractures (separation and weakness of the bone material in the vertebral body). These fractures are often caused by osteoporosis. A minimally invasive orthopedic surgery that stabilizes spinal fractures, thereby reducing pain and correcting the vertebral deformity.
mild® is a short, outpatient treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) that restores space in the spinal canal to help improve back and leg pain.* Using specialized tools and imaging, mild® addresses a major root cause of LSS by removing thickened ligament through an incision smaller than the size of baby aspirin, leaving no implants behind, only a Band-Aid.
The intrathecal pain pump provides “targeted drug delivery” to the spinal cord to provide chronic pain relief and because the medication is applied directly to spinal cord pain receptors, the brain is left free of drug effects.
A spinal cord stimulator uses electrical impulses to relieve chronic pain of the trunk, arms and legs. It is believed that electrical impulses block pain signals within the spinal cord and prevent these impulses from reaching the brain.
The interspinous spacer is an FDA-approved indirect decompression device that is implanted between the vertebrae to specifically address the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). If you have moderate degenerative LSS and conservative measures are not providing relief, there may not be a need to jump automatically to a surgical solution.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Diagnostic Services
- Medication management
- Physical Therapy
Patient Stories
What are patients saying…
“Michael is an excellent listener and communicator. He shares and explains information about my concerns and conditions so well! He answers all my questions.”
“My whole experience at the Pain Management Center was excellent! Very satisfied!”
“I appreciate the genuine care and concern from my pain management team!“
