Pain basically acts as the alarm bell for the nervous system. It warns your body that something’s wrong. The worst part is that you can physically feel this alarm bell, whether it’s a dull, throbbing pain or a sharp, stabbing sensation. Chronic pain symptoms indicate that something serious needs to be addressed.
Spine Technology and Rehabilitation provides integrated pain management solutions in Fort Wayne. We conduct a comprehensive evaluation to determine the root cause of your chronic pain. Then, we build a personalized treatment plan that doesn’t involve addictive pain medication.
Call us today to schedule an appointment with our pain doctor.
Pain management is a specialty of medicine providing numerous treatment approaches to diminish pain and improve function. Interventional pain management (IPM) specialists, like Dr. Fortin, are physicians with proper training and a large tool kit for the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of different types of pain (including chronic pain, acute pain, and cancer pain).
If you have a painful condition which has gone undetected or has been improperly treated, it may be time for you to seek the help of a pain management detective. In contrast to many other pain management practices, IPM is different because it emphasizes the importance of a precise diagnosis, so treatment is predicated on the cause. Basing treatment on the cause helps to ensure against treatment failure. Dr. Fortin will determine if you are a good candidate for pain management after conducting a complete consultation.
Medical problems he specializes in include:
If you are searching for pain relief that does not involve addictive medications or destructive surgeries, you may be an excellent candidate for the expert interventional pain management at Spine Technology and Rehabilitation.
The best pain management doctors in the world, like Dr. Fortin, use a multimodal approach, and have wide ranging skills in both diagnosing and treating a vast array of painful disorders. Your initial consultation always begins with a thorough history and physical examination. This will include a comprehensive review of your previous diagnostic studies and treatment measures you have undergone. Other essential skills he may employ to help you include:
At Spine Technology and Rehabilitation, Dr. Fortin creates customized treatment protocols, tailored to the cause of your symptoms.
Treatments range from simple anti-inflammatory or steroid injections to deploying radiofrequency energy delivered by special probes to abolish the nerve supply to painful spinal structures. Other common procedures include:
1) using sophisticated, implantable generators and catheters (similar to pacemaker technology) to pulse electrical energy to nerves in various parts of the body, thereby scrambling and dampening pain signals,
2) guiding a special catheter into the spinal canal to deliver various scar busting medications, which untethers nerves trapped after surgical procedures or from severe narrowing of the spinal canals (owing to degeneration or trauma), and
3) exploiting the natural healing capabilities of immune tissue (stem cells, growth factors and bio-scaffolding) to help injured body parts heal.
If you are seeking a minimally invasive, systematic approach to your painful condition, which will not leave you dependent on medications or disabled from unnecessary surgery call Spine Technology and Rehabilitation today.
While “pain” is a term that can cover uncomfortable feelings in a general sense, there are different types of pain you should be aware of. Knowing what types of pain you’re experiencing can help in dealing with the issue with the right pain treatment.
Generally speaking, there are eight types of pain you can experience, and we’ll cover all of them below:
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain can be one of the most unpleasant feelings a person can have, and seeking pain relief from this type of feeling can involve more intensive treatment.
Overall, chronic pain is a miserable sensation occurring frequently and lasting longer than six months. Most chronic pain conditions, in fact, start as acute pain and which evolve into chronic pain. Some of the most common chronic pain disorders involve the following:
Aside from symptoms of severe pain, the fact that chronic pain is an ongoing condition means that the patient’s quality of life can be severely affected. Moreover, if the patient isn’t able to relieve chronic pain, they will also experience mental health conditions like depression or anxiety.
Acute Pain
Unlike chronic pain, acute pain only lasts for a short period, which can be minutes, hours, or even days. Depending on the circumstances, acute pain can happen right after a particular event that caused an injury.
In most cases, acute pain management is simpler and doesn’t involve as much testing or treatments. Still, in cases of severe circumstances that triggered the pain, the person may want to seek a pain management session with a professional.
Bone Pain
These types of pain are often described as a discomforting or aching sensations in your bones. It can happen when you rest or exercise. Sources of bone pain include:
In these cases, it’s vital for the person to seek help for managing pain as soon as possible. Otherwise, the problem can evolve into something worse, and regular pain medicine will not be able to treat it.
Nerve Pain or Neuropathic Pain
Nerve pain is also known as neuralgia or neuropathic pain. Overall, neuropathic pain is caused by nerve inflammation or general damage. Most people experience the unwanted pain signals as shooting, burning, sharp, or stabbing pain. For some patients, neuropathic pain is more common at night before sleeping.
Neuropathic pain can be one of the most complex types of pain you can experience since, if it’s left untreated, it will greatly affect your quality of life, including your work, sleep, and more. People with neuropathic pain are often sensitive to cold, and in cases of chronic pain, these symptoms could develop into anxiety or depression.
Unlike other types of pain, nerve pain can be caused by a wider range of threatening disorders, making it more imperative to seek pain management attention. Some common causes of nerve pain include:
In more severe cases, like spinal cord, brain, or nerve injuries, immediate medical assistance is advised to relieve pain and deal with any underlying issues that may get worse.
Breakthrough Pain
Breakthrough pain can happen to people who are already taking pain medication to deal with chronic pain. It may be more common in those with nerve pain, cancer, fibromyalgia, or arthritis. It is also referred to as “pain flare.”
This pain type mostly happens when the positive affects of their usual pain medication wears off before it normally would stop working. This may occur when a person is exercising or doing any type of physical activity. It may also happen when the person is experiencing another illness, stress, or other related events.
If you are experiencing breakthrough pain consider seeking a pain management consultation to determine the cause.
Phantom Pain
Phantom pain may happens with people who undergo limb amputations. The pain feels like it comes from a body part that’s not there anymore. It’s vital to note that phantom pain is not the same as phantom limb sensation. The main difference between the two is that, in the latter, the person will not experience pain in most cases.
Years ago, most doctors believed that phantom pain came from underlying psychological issues. However, after some studies, it has been proven that these pain sensations may come from the spinal cord or brain.
Treating pain, in this case, can be particularly hard for some people. Fortunately, with the right pain management sessions, the person will be able to control pain and move on with their life sooner than later.
Soft Tissue Pain
Generally speaking, you’re experiencing “soft tissue pain” when the pain sensation comes from your muscles, tendons or ligaments. Depending on the case, it may happen due to an injury or inflammation.
You can experience soft tissue pain from any of the following issues:
Regardless of the reason, seeking a pain control session with the right professional will always be the best choice to make.
Referred Pain
Finally, referred pain happens due to a problem in one particular organ or structure that is referred to a remote body region.
People who experience pancreas injuries, for example, may feel pain in their upper stomach area. A problem in the hip joint may manifest as knee or back pain. In other words a person experiencing referred pain does not feel the symptoms in the area it’s originating from. This happens due to the body’s network of interconnecting sensory nerves, which can cause the brain to sometimes interpret the wrong pain location.
You can recognize which type of pain you’re experiencing by knowing key identifiers that relate to different types of pain. For example, if your pain is continuous and has been lasting for a significant amount of time, you’re experiencing chronic pain. On the other hand, if your pain is only lingering for a few minutes, hours or days, you have acute pain.
There are 8 different types of pain: chronic pain (6+ months), acute pain (only lasts for a short amount of time), bone pain (discomfort/aches in your bones), nerve pain (shooting/stabbing pain in specific areas of the body), breakthrough pain (this occurs typically when medication begins to wear off), phantom pain (this happens when you have a limb amputated), soft tissue pain (pain comes to muscles, tendons or ligaments) and referred pain (when an one particular organ or structure refers symptoms to a remote area).
Think of pain as a signaling system within your body, like a dashboard warning light in your motor vehicle indicating that something is not working properly. Regardless of the specific type of pain that you are experiencing, it is often imperative to seek medical help to safely manage your pain and build a treatment plan.
Physical Therapy is incredibly beneficial to help with treating pain, allowing you to continue being active, while diminishing your pain and improving your mobility and strength. Physical Therapists look for areas of weakness or stiffness that are negatively affecting the places that hurt and provide specific care plans to ease pain and increase mobility. Physical Therapy is focused on long-term pain relief and can include joint manipulation, dry needling, and more.
At STAR, we focus on a non-invasive, or minimally invasive, and medication-free approach to relieving pain. From anti-inflammatory or steroid injections to physical therapy and beyond, we offer a wide variety of services to help you manage your pain.
Popular pain medications include anti-inflammatory medications, like Advil, muscle relaxants, such as Zanaflex and Baclofen as well as nerve pain medications, like Neurontin and Lyrica. Narcotic medications such as Vicodin and Duragesic must be prescribed with great caution and close medical monitoring.
Pain relievers work by acting on specific cellular sites or mechanisms, ranging from
nerve terminals and muscle membranes to circulating chemical or hormonal messengers.
Pain medicines can cause side effects when taken, like allergic reactions, stomach upset, bruising, dizziness, and more.
The most common form of pain management is injections. Injections help identify and
ease pain as well as support healing and recovery. At STAR, Dr. Fortin offers a variety of different types of injections, like stem cell therapy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), joint and soft tissue injection, sacroiliac joint injections and more. If you want more information on the different injections offered at our clinic, please give us a call at 260-459-7313.
When you are sent to pain management, you will begin with an initial consultation with Dr. Fortin, identifying your pain areas, reviewing your history and conducting a physical examination. Following your initial consultation, Dr. Fortin’s primary focus is a rigorous
detective (diagnostic) protocol to properly identify your smoking gun (the anatomically precise origin of your pain). Once the cause of your symptoms has been scientifically revealed, a treatment plan is customized to your specific condition, alleviating your suffering.
STAR Pain Management is aimed at systematically eliminating, not causing pain. Dr. Fortin and his team of caregivers focus on non-invasive or minimally invasive treatments and pain management practices that ensure long-term wellness.
Treating chronic pain is difficult because it often involves complex detective or diagnostic investigations to correctly identify the pain source, as well as a more intensive treatment plan. Due to its complicated, perplexing presentation. Chronic pain’s lingering and debilitating nature often has ripple effects, influencing other aspects of life, like anxiety and depression. Our expertise at STAR involves treating and preventing the recurrence of these “ripple” effects. Some common cases of chronic pain are arthritis, headaches, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis (from discs in the low back collapsing on nerves), failed spine surgeries, failed joint replacement surgeries, diabetes and cancer.
It’s important to not panic because added stress, anxiety and panic is not helpful on your body. Although pain is uncomfortable, there are treatment options available to you and the STAR team will help you build a plan based on your situation.
At-home remedies, like taking over-the-counter medication or using ice/heat packs, will help ease pain but may not completely remove it. It is important to seek medical support when experiencing continued pain to find the root cause of your discomfort and build a care plan to help you feel your best.
At-home remedies, like taking over-the-counter medication or using ice/heat packs, will help ease pain but may not completely remove it. It is important to seek medical support when experiencing continued pain to find the root cause of your discomfort and build a care plan to help you feel your best.
Exercising is amazingly beneficial in conjunction with pain management treatments, providing increased endurance, mobility, flexibility and strength. Incorporating exercise into your everyday life will have other positive effects on your body, like a stronger immune system, healthier cardiovascular system and improved mood.
Changing your lifestyle in positive ways is complementary to pain management by helping you stay proactive on your health and wellness. Focusing on nutrition, getting adequate rest, incorporating exercise and movement into your daily routine, and managing stress helps manage pain and prevent future injuries.
There can be risks of pain management, whether that be with complications from injections, hands-on treatments or other procedures. These risks are minimized with
proper training and expertise. For example, Dr. Fortin uses imaging instruments to guide all of his procedures. He is a recognized expert in imaging, having trained physicians in imaging studies internationally. For more information, please call our office directly at 260-459-7313.
Pain management plans are profoundly effective if they are based on the proper
diagnosis. That’s why we focus on detective work at STAR. Treatment plans are then created specifically for your individual needs and symptoms. Treatment can differ from case to case, so pain management plans focus on lessening pain, increasing mobility and more.
Getting in contact with our team is easy! You can call us directly at 260-459-7313, email us at info@spine-technology.info, visit our practice (9502 Lima Road #103, Fort Wayne, IN 46818 or fill out our “Contact Us” form.
Dr. Fortin is the Medical Director of Spine Technology and Rehabilitation (STAR) and a Clinical Professor at IU School of Medicine. He completed his undergrad and graduate studies at Western Michigan University and completed medical school at Michigan State University. Dr. Fortin also underwent four years of specialty training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine, followed by three years of subspecialty or fellowship training in Interventional Spine and Radiology at Diagnostic Conservative Management.
He specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, interventional spine and imaging, sports medicine, regenerative medicine, integrative medicine, pain management, electrodiagnostic medicine, and bone densitometry.
Yes. Dr. Fortin and his team work with regenerative medicine, offering 2 different treatment options. Depending on your symptoms, you may have either platelet-rich plasma therapy or stem cell therapy.
You know you are choosing the correct pain doctor if they are listening to you and your needs, creating a plan focused on relieving your specific type of pain and taking your preferences and situation into consideration.
