This is the number one myth about pain management. As with all medicine, prevention is the key. However, when pain does occur, the best chance of alleviating pain permanently is to address it early on and aggressively. This not only allows you to return to your normal activities pain free, but also prevents your pain from becoming a chronic problem. In addition, studies suggest that in cancer patients, who receive treatment for their pain during the end of life, better pain control increases not only the quality of life, but can also increase the life expectancy.
This is a common misconception in the field of pain management. Though it is true that some pain clinics only treat pain by writing opioids and medications, here at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center we focus on diagnosing the source of your pain. By doing so, we can develop a treatment plan targeted specifically at your pain generator, giving you pain relief without the need for opioids or other medications. These medications can have serious side effects when taken for a long period of time. Though we understand that medications can play a role in managing your pain, we attempt to minimize medication usage by focusing on other modalities to treat your pain. As such, we can maximize your pain control without the use of chronic pills that can be harmful to your kidneys and liver long term.
Depending on the type of insurance you have, you may need to have a referral from another provider before seeing a specialist. However, in most instances, you do NOT need a referral to be seen at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center. It is best to call our office to determine whether or not a referral is necessary. If your low back pain is new, we can typically see you within 24-48 hours. We understand that life is hard enough as it is and there is no reason for you to continue to suffer in pain. We are your urgent care for low back pain.
After your teenage years, many people begin to have degenerated, bulging discs and arthritis in the spine. The good news is that despite these changes occurring in your spine, most of the time, it does not cause any pain. However, what happens when you start having low back and/or neck pain? Once again, the good news is that the vast majority of cases do not need surgery, especially early on during the course of your pain. We have realized that most cases will resolve with conservative therapies, but they have a better chance of resolving your pain if therapies are started early in the course of your pain. This even includes cases where you have herniated disc and even disc fragments that are pinching nerves in your low back or neck. There are very specific criteria where surgery is necessary on an acute basis, but luckily these are few and far between. At Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center, we can treat your acute pain, allowing you to get back to life as soon as possible. We are your spine pain specialists. We also know when is the appropriate time for further diagnostic studies and direct you to the appropriate providers to take care of your pain quickly and appropriately.
As we age, pain does become more a prevalent problem. This does not mean we must live with the pain. When pain begins to persist beyond several weeks, consider seeking an evaluation by a pain specialist. Realizing that the best treatment outcomes occur when pain is addressed early, it is recommended to not just “grin and bear it,” but to seek professional care, so that your current pain does not turn into a lifelong problem. At Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center we offer treatment options that can help alleviate pain by at least 50% without needing to take medications. Aging does not have to be a painful process.
If you are currently in pain and have some concerns about addressing your problem by a pain specialist, give us a call today to schedule an appointment and we will discuss your case in more details and direct you in the right direction.
Well that is not accurate, the vast majority of cases can be treated, especially early on during the course of your pain. Like any other tissue in your body, it has the natural ability to heal itself on its own without surgical intervention. And what pain interventional procedure does is help you not to be in pain by controlling the damaging inflammatory process, which in turn accelerates healing.
Did you know that, single pain management injection dose of steroid is equivalent to far less dose than what normal body produces on daily basis from your suprarenal glands? Steroids and weight gain are of a concern mainly with Systemic (Oral or Intravenous) Steroids for systemic diseases e.g. Rheumatoid Arthritis, and is not expected to happen with Pain Management injections. We sure look into all possible side effects, but luckily weight gain is not one of them.
Not accurate, pain management treatments options are curative and definitive treatments for majority of conditions related to back pain. The key is accurate diagnosis and suggesting the right procedue to the condition that you have.
Do you have a Q about pain management specialty, send to us and will get back to you with facts about the specialty.
Do you have a Q about pain management specialty, send to us and will get back to you with facts to help you decide where to start.
Fact: No. They are very different treatments.
The term regenerative medicine is commonly used to describe several different types of biologic treatments. However, these treatments do not all work the same way and should not be considered interchangeable.
One commonly used treatment is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP). PRP is prepared from a patient’s own blood. The blood is processed to produce a platelet-rich preparation that is then injected into a targeted area.
PRP is different from a corticosteroid injection. Corticosteroids are primarily used for their anti-inflammatory effects. PRP, on the other hand, is intended to expose the targeted area to a concentrated preparation of the patient’s own platelets and associated biologic factors.
Research into PRP continues, and outcomes vary depending on the condition being treated, how the PRP is prepared, the location being treated, and appropriate patient selection.
Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center believes that the decision to use a biologic treatment should begin with an accurate diagnosis rather than simply choosing an injection.
Fact: Claims that PRP simply “regrows” damaged tissue are an oversimplification.
PRP should not be presented as a treatment that can reliably regrow cartilage, rebuild a degenerative spinal disc, or restore every damaged tendon to its original condition.
The scientific evidence is more nuanced.
For certain musculoskeletal conditions, PRP has been studied as a treatment that may improve pain and function. However, the strength of the evidence and expected benefit vary substantially depending on the condition being treated.
That is why Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center believes the question should not simply be:
“Does PRP work?”
A better question is:
“Is there reasonable evidence that PRP may help my particular condition, and am I an appropriate candidate?”
The diagnosis should determine the treatment—not the other way around.
Fact: No medical procedure is completely risk-free.
Because PRP is prepared from the patient’s own blood, it differs from treatments involving donor-derived biologic material. However, the injection procedure itself still carries potential risks.
Depending on the location being treated, potential risks may include temporary worsening of pain, bleeding, infection, injury to surrounding structures, or simply failure to provide meaningful improvement.
The decision to use PRP should therefore consider the patient’s diagnosis, medical history, previous treatments, available alternatives, and the expected benefits and risks.
Fact: No. This is an important distinction.
Products derived from placental tissues, amniotic membrane, umbilical cord tissue, or related tissues are sometimes loosely described in advertisements as “stem-cell treatments.” That terminology can be misleading.
For example, Clarix FLO is a human tissue allograft derived from amniotic membrane and umbilical cord tissue. According to the manufacturer’s product information, Clarix FLO does not contain living cells.
Therefore, it should not simply be described to patients as a “stem-cell injection.”
Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center believes patients considering biologic treatments should understand exactly what product is being proposed, where it comes from, what it contains, what evidence supports its proposed use, and what alternatives are available.
Fact: This is an area where patients should be particularly careful about marketing claims.
The term “stem-cell therapy” is frequently used online to promote treatments for arthritis, degenerative discs, back pain, joint pain, tendon injuries, and many other musculoskeletal conditions.
However, patients should understand that not every treatment advertised as “stem-cell therapy” has been demonstrated to regenerate damaged tissue or has received FDA approval for the condition being treated.
The FDA has specifically cautioned consumers about unapproved regenerative medicine products marketed for orthopedic conditions.
Patients considering these treatments should ask several important questions:
- What exactly is being injected?
- Where does the product come from?
- Does it actually contain living stem cells?
- How was it processed?
- What clinical evidence supports its use for my particular condition?
- Is this specific product FDA-approved for treating my condition?
- What are the alternatives?
Claims that an injection can simply “regrow your disc,” “rebuild your cartilage,” or “cure your arthritis” should be approached carefully.
Fact: No. “FDA registered” and “FDA approved” do not mean the same thing.
A company, facility, or product being registered or listed with the FDA does not necessarily mean that the FDA has reviewed and approved a particular treatment as safe and effective for a particular medical condition.
Similarly, the fact that a treatment is being studied or appears on ClinicalTrials.gov does not, by itself, establish FDA approval.
This distinction is particularly important when evaluating advertisements for stem cells, exosomes, amniotic products, umbilical cord products, Wharton’s jelly products, and other treatments marketed as regenerative medicine.
A very important question for patients to ask is:
“Is this specific product FDA-approved for treating my specific condition?”
Fact: Because “promising” and “proven” are not the same thing.
Regenerative medicine is an evolving area of medical research. The amount and quality of scientific evidence differ substantially among treatments and among the conditions being treated.
Some biologic treatments have considerably more clinical research supporting their use for certain conditions than others. Other applications remain investigational or have limited clinical evidence.
Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center does not believe a treatment should be recommended simply because it is new, expensive, or marketed as “regenerative.”
The process should begin with the patient’s diagnosis.
The available evidence, limitations of the evidence, reasonable alternatives, potential risks, expected benefits, and cost should then be discussed before deciding whether a regenerative treatment is appropriate.
Fact: They may be an option for selected patients, but no injection can guarantee that surgery will be avoided.
Whether surgery is necessary depends on the underlying diagnosis—not simply on whether PRP or another biologic treatment is available.
For some musculoskeletal conditions, a nonsurgical treatment plan may include rehabilitation, activity modification, medications, conventional interventional pain procedures, and, in appropriately selected circumstances, a biologic treatment such as PRP.
Other conditions may require surgical evaluation regardless of whether regenerative treatments are available.
The philosophy of Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center is not to avoid surgery at all costs.
Rather, the objective is to select the least invasive medically appropriate treatment for the patient’s condition while recognizing when surgical evaluation is the better option.
Fact: Start with your diagnosis—not the product.
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding regenerative medicine is that a particular injection is appropriate simply because a patient has pain.
Two patients may both have “knee pain,” “shoulder pain,” or “back pain” while having completely different underlying conditions.
The treatment therefore should not begin with:
“Which regenerative injection should I get?”
Instead, Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center recommends starting with three questions:
- What is causing my pain?
- What does the medical evidence support for this particular condition?
- What are all of my reasonable treatment options?
For selected patients, PRP or another biologic treatment may be one of those options. For others, physical therapy, conventional interventional treatment, medication, observation, or surgical consultation may be more appropriate.
Interested in PRP or Regenerative Medicine?
If you are considering PRP, biologic therapy, or another treatment marketed as regenerative medicine, schedule an evaluation with Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center.
The first step is not choosing an injection.
The first step is determining the diagnosis.
This information is provided for general educational purposes and does not constitute individual medical advice. Regenerative and biologic treatments are an evolving area of medicine. Evidence, potential benefits, risks, and regulatory status vary according to the specific product, proposed use, and medical condition. An individual medical evaluation is necessary before determining whether any treatment is appropriate.
Common Patient Questions Answered by Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD
There are many misconceptions about pain management, back and neck pain, spine injections, medications, surgery, and newer treatments such as PRP and regenerative medicine.
Unfortunately, these misconceptions can sometimes cause patients to delay evaluation or believe that they must simply live with pain until it becomes severe.
Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center believes that effective pain treatment begins with one fundamental principle:
Find the source of the pain first—then select the treatment that best fits the diagnosis.
Below are some of the most common questions and myths we hear from patients.
Fact: No. You don't necessarily have to wait until pain becomes chronic to see a pain specialist.
One of the biggest misconceptions about pain management is that patients should try everything else first and only see a pain specialist after months or years of suffering.
Pain management can be involved much earlier.
When significant pain develops, early evaluation may help determine its cause and identify appropriate treatment before the problem becomes prolonged or begins substantially affecting mobility, sleep, work, exercise, and quality of life.
Seeing a pain specialist also does not automatically mean having an injection.
Depending on the diagnosis, treatment may include activity modification, physical therapy, home exercises, medications, diagnostic testing, image-guided procedures, or referral to another specialist.
Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, at Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center focuses on identifying the likely source of pain and determining the appropriate treatment at the appropriate time.
The goal isn’t necessarily to treat more aggressively. It is to diagnose accurately and treat appropriately.
Fact: No. Interventional pain management involves much more than prescribing medication.
Back pain, neck pain, and nerve pain can arise from many different structures, including discs, spinal joints, nerves, muscles, ligaments, and sacroiliac joints.
Different causes require different treatments.
At Mission Advanced Pain Management & Spine Center, under the care of Dr. Alfred Beshai, MD, the