Frequently Asked Questions

It is recommended that you have someone available to drive you after having an injection. Most of our injections should leave you feeling as good or better as when you walked in. However with some of our injections we may have numbed your entire arm or leg causing weakness for several hours making it unsafe for you to drive. In addition to this, if you were prescribed Valium to take prior to an injection it would be unsafe to drive. It is impossible to know what kind of treatment you will need and receive on the day of your appointment so it is always better to have a driver with you if possible.

In short, yes OPM can prescribe opioids but our priority is to figure out what hurts and why so that our patients do NOT need pain pills. The majority of patients who come to see us are not taking any kind of long term opioid medications. Opioids have gotten a lot of attention in the media in the last decade and we are all aware of the epidemic they have placed on our Nation. The story lines of addiction, over dose and over prescribing have long been the focus but the most important fact for you as the patient is this; opioids are NOT an effective treatment for long term pain control. We know this because there have been numerous studies showing patients having pain being broken into two groups; one receiving opioids and the other receiving different types of pain medications and sometimes even placebos. The results of these studies have been consistent over the past decade. Patients receiving opioids report lower pain scores for the first few weeks but as their bodies become more resistant to the medication the pain scores end up right where they started. In spite of our successful treatment options and poor evidence for long term opioid management there are the specific circumstances in which low dose opioids can provide some improvement in function.

We feel that is it extremely important for patients as well as other doctors to understand that Pain Management is a board certified medical sub-specialty within anesthesiology and physical medicine/rehabilitation. To be a pain specialist you must first complete a four year residency after medical school and then be accepted into a fellowship for an additional year. The process to get certified requires two- eight hour written exams and a final half day oral exam in front of multiple experts in the field. The reason this is so important for patients to know is understanding that doctors have the freedom to promote themselves any way that they want regardless of their training background. Often with their limited training, all these physicians can do is write and maintain prescriptions never being able to fully diagnose what is causing pain and how to make it stop. To make sure that you are seeing someone fully qualified to adequately manage your pain, please click the link and verify that they have been trained and are board certified. http://www.certificationmatters.org/find-my-doctor

The only time having something to eat or drink prior to an injection becomes an issue are those instances that you will be receiving anesthesia for your injection. Many anesthesia medications cause patients to become nauseous and increase the likelihood of vomiting while sedated. In addition to making people more likely to vomit, anesthesia also reduces your gag and cough reflex so that if you do vomit you are at a greater risk of choking.

It’s perfectly normal to be nervous for an injection as this is something to be dealt with before any kind of medical procedure. While most patients do absolutely fine with nothing we do have options of prescribing a before procedure Valium to take. This requires a trip to the pharmacy before scheduled injection day as well as an additional appointment to give the prescription as well as one for the actual injection. Valium is a pill that you take requiring 30-45 minutes to take effect so must be taken accordingly to be of benefit for your injection appointment. If a Valium is taken, patient MUST have a driver.

For patients who feel concerned or anxious about their injections hurting, it is worth knowing that we have surveyed our patients regarding this and on average they have relayed that on a scale of 1-10 the most pain felt was around a 2. Every patient is numbed before the actual injection with lidocaine, this is typically the only thing that is felt by the patient. This injection of lidocaine is performed with the same size needle used to give the common flu shot and is considerably smaller than the needle used for an IV if you were to be sedated for the injection.

The use of anesthesia for injections is something that we do offer, however do to increasing cost concerns and the minimally invasive approach that we use, the overwhelming majority of patients who receive injections from us do not use anesthesia. We often hear patients talk about how a friend or relative “had to go to the operating room to get their shot” and think that it was something more invasive or different than what we do in office. The truth is that every injection that is offered in a hospital or operating room can easily be done right in our office in less than five minutes saving our patients hospital bills, anesthesia bills and hours of hospital check in time by doing so.

OPM is happy to see all patients WITHOUT a referral. All that is needed is for you to call and schedule an appointment with your insurance information. It is also very helpful if you are able to gather any previous MRI or scans as well as treatment information that you have had in the past.