Blog Archive
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...
Experiencing sacroiliac joint pain can significantly disrupt daily activities, making even simple tasks daunting and affecting overall quality of life. Fortunately, there are strategies beyond specific stretches that can contribute to managing this condition effectively. In this updated guide, we will focus on understanding sacroiliac joint pain, identifying its symptoms,...
Bellevue Pain and Wellness is excited to announce a special presentation featuring Dr. Robert Bowers, MD, a distinguished double board-certified, fellowship-trained anesthesiology and pain medicine physician. Dr. Bowers will lead an informative session on the innovative treatments and technologies in spinal cord stimulation and their applications in managing diabetic peripheral...
Sitting: it's something we all do, especially in the modern age of desk jobs, long commutes, and binge-watching our favorite TV shows. But did you know prolonged sitting can have adverse effects on your lower back? Let's delve into the causes of lower back pain from sitting and explore solutions...
Understanding Surgery: The Rewards and Challenges Surgery, a field advancing rapidly due to technological progress and medical research, indisputably offers tangible relief for a plethora of medical conditions. From minor outpatient procedures to major operations, surgeries have improved and saved countless lives. Yet, as with many medical interventions, surgery isn't...
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson recently unveiled pivotal findings on SPRAVATO® (esketamine nasal spray) from the ESCAPE-TRD study at the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry. The ESCAPE-TRD study was an international phase 3b clinical trial conducted across 24 countries, designed to assess the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability...
In the realm of neurology, there exist two conditions that have baffled both physicians and patients due to their intricately overlapping symptoms – Occipital Neuralgia and Migraine. Both are neurological disorders primarily affecting the head, manifesting as intense, sometimes debilitating pain. Understanding these conditions is the first step towards...
Living with chronic pain can be debilitating, especially for individuals experiencing joint or back pain. However, there is a powerful tool that can significantly improve their quality of life: weight loss. Beyond its aesthetic benefits, shedding excess pounds plays a crucial role in reducing chronic pain symptoms. In this article,...
Cancer is a term that is associated with the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer is a life-threatening condition that can cause significant physical, emotional, and psychological pain for patients and their families. One of the most common symptoms experienced by cancer patients is pain, which can...
Durable Medical Equipment (DME) refers to a range of medical devices that are designed to provide support, stability, and mobility to individuals with various medical conditions. These devices can include wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and other equipment designed to help individuals with their activities of daily living. One type of DME...
Interventional pain management is a medical field that involves the use of minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat chronic pain conditions. These procedures are typically performed by interventional pain specialists, who use specialized techniques to relieve pain and improve function in patients with chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain can...
Bellevue Pain and Wellness will feature a presentation on spinal cord stimulation and pain from Dr. Robert Bowers, MD. Robert Bowers, MD, is a double board-certified, fellowship-trained anesthesiology and pain medicine physician. The presentation will be held over Zoom on Thursday, Jan 5, 2023 03:00 PM in Pacific Time. This...
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy or DPN affects as many as 50% of diabetic individuals, and it is predicted approximately a million patients in the United States suffer from DPN. It develops after prolonged diabetic damage to the peripheral nerves such as in the hand, arms, legs and feet. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy...
Sports injuries are the injuries that occur when playing sports and doing exercises. Most of these sport injuries affect the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones that are associated with the movement and stability. Though exercise and sports are part and parcel of life, you may get hurt when participating in them...
Nothing is more stressful than days and nights spent with chronic neck, knee, back, or spinal nerve pain. All those sleepless nights, tearful moaning, and being unable to work at moments are the worst parts of having chronic pain. Radiofrequency ablation can be a game-changer in terms of coping...
If you've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you may have a lot of questions. You're not alone. In fact, fibromyalgia is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases, so you're definitely not alone in that either. This article will answer some of the most common questions about fibromyalgia, from what it...
Ketamine is a compound that has a very complex mechanism of action and has effects on various receptors. The main being N-methyl-D-aspartate ( NMDA) receptor antagonist with additional effects on α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, opioid receptors, and monoaminergic receptors. Ketamine was first developed in...
Can a Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block( SPG Block) Work For My Migraine Headaches? Sphenopalatine ganglion blocks are a classic yet effective way to treat migraines, cluster headaches, facial pain, and also facial neuralgias, as well as cephalgia or dysautonomia. SPG blocks were first described in the early 1900s by applying...
Our office is pleased to offer Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for the treatment of chronic pain conditions from our Bellevue office. We are able to work with patients from Bellevue, Seattle, Kirkland, Redmond, Everett, Tacoma, Federal Way, and Issaquah, as well as many more Washington areas. Naltrexone is a pure...
It can be frustrating and depressing to have your chronic pain continue after various treatments and even surgery. Spinal cord stimulators have been a proven and long term treatment option for chronic pain for the back, arms, and legs. It is often used when other treatments have been unsuccessful such...
When you've been hurt in a car accident, it can be difficult to navigate your way to recovery. There are so many components to juggle all at once such getting a rental car, fixing your damaged car at the shop, finding and meeting with a lawyer, and all the while...
We’ve already had a blog post about migraine, however this one focuses on a treatment, Botox for migraine, that not everyone with severe chronic migraines has tried yet. Our Seattle Bellevue office sees a variety of patients with chronic migraines and we understand how hard to treat they can be....
Our Seattle Bellevue office is pleased to announce exciting news! After much time spent in development, we have been officially registered as one of the region's few Spravato treatment centers. We are now a Spravato REMS Certified Center! Spravato is a molecule related to ketamine, which has shown promise for...
Bellevue Pain and Wellness is one of Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland’s top physician offices administering Spravato (esketamine nasal spray). Spravato is administered and monitored personally by our board certified anesthesiologist and pain management specialist in a controlled, safe and comfortable setting. Spravato(esketamine nasal spray) is an exciting new...
Neuropathic pain is one of the more difficult pain to treat. Unfortunately many of the conventional pain medications don't work particularly well for this, and many patients end up seeking out a pain management specialist for help for their ongoing suffering. A lot of times patients have tried over the...
Musculoskeletal pain is any pain, including lower pain pain, neck pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, and knee and ankle pain, and might be rapidly occurring or might be long term and chronic. Musculoskeletal pain comprises any type of pain that might be coming from the joints,...
In this blog post, I’d like to address two lesser known conditions that have a variety of causes, sometimes without clear reason, but painful nonetheless. Chronic abdominal pain and chronic pelvic pain are two very painful long term conditions that a pain specialist is uniquely able to address, first to...
Most of us have experienced what it is like to have a really bad headache in our lives. Certain people, however, experience bad headaches almost daily and the pain might be so awful that he or she simply is suffering and is unable to function normally due to the intensity...
In my newest blog post, I'd like to talk about how COVID-19 and Governor Jay Inslee’s “stay-at-home” and social distancing requirement has changed the practice of clinical medicine. All across our country, medical practices are turning toward telemedicine or telehealth to stay in communication with patients throughout this trying time....
Ketamine Therapy: An Alternative Approach to Block and Reverse Chronic Pain Intravenous or IV ketamine therapy is an exciting non-opioid medical approach that can be administered by a trained physician in a pain clinic, and some pain doctors administer ketamine as it has shown usefulness in their practices for...
In this blog post, I'd like to address an uncommon, but not rare condition, which is probably under-diagnosed due to the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment. I've had much experiencing identifying patients with this condition and have great success in treatments, in both my Interventional Pain Management Fellowship and while...
Sciatica or pinched nerve pain is one of the more frustrating pains with which I've helped patients. This type of pain can cause an electric-like sensation, sometimes a tingling, aching or burning down the hips or the buttock, possibly shooting down the legs past the knee. Sometimes, there is...
We've all experienced some type of pain in our body. Headache, migraine, neck pain, knee pain, hip pain and low back pain are all very common types of pain. If we're lucky, it tends to go away within a few days. However some of us are not as lucky as...
Holidays seasons are amazing and memorable time periods in all of our lives. Family gatherings, work parties, good food and companionship. But cold weather, over-eating, and sedentary lifestyle can make us worse off than before. Occasionally, we might even do something physical we wouldn't normally do, like carry something heavy...