Pain Management

Pain management is a medical specialty devoted to pain control. Interventional pain management is the part of it that treats pain at its source.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. Much of what people are offered for chronic pain works at a distance — something taken by mouth that affects the whole body in the hope of quieting one part of it. Interventional treatment goes the other way: identify the specific nerve, joint, or disc that is generating the signal, then treat that structure directly, with imaging guiding the needle.

Diagnosis comes before treatment

Treating the source only helps if the source has been correctly identified, which is why the first visit here is a diagnostic visit rather than a procedure. History, physical exam, a review of whatever imaging you bring, and — when it helps — a diagnostic injection that can confirm which structure is responsible.

Diagnostic blocks are worth understanding because they are unusual: the injection is both a test and a treatment. If numbing a particular nerve takes the pain away, that tells us the target is right and that a longer-lasting version of the same idea is worth doing. If it does not, we do not proceed down that path — we look somewhere else. Answers of that kind are hard to get from a scan alone.

How care is sequenced

The order is deliberate. Diagnose the problem, treat it with the least invasive option that fits the diagnosis, and escalate only when your case calls for it. Nobody starts at the most involved procedure on the list because it exists.

The goal is stated the same way every time: restore function, reduce pain, and minimize medication reliance. Function first is not a slogan — it is the measure. Whether you can get through a workday, sleep a full night, or get down on the floor with a grandchild says more about whether treatment worked than any number you circle on a chart.

Many of these procedures are options for people who want to avoid or delay surgery, and for people who have already had surgery and still hurt. What we can promise is a diagnosis, a plan, and a straight conversation about what to expect from each step.

Where to go from here

• Conditions we treat — start here if you want to understand what is causing your pain.
• Treatments we offer — the procedures themselves, and what each one is for.
• Knee Rejuvenation Program — the sequenced knee-pain program, if the knee is the problem.
• Dr. Manuel López — the board-certified pain management and rehabilitation physician who will be treating you.

Start with a conversation

Care is provided in English and Spanish. One consultation gets you a straight assessment and a plan built for your case, and our office can check your coverage before you come in — see insurance and patient information.

Call (386) 222-7746 or request an appointment.