Treatment Options - Arthritis Care
Expert care and relief for arthritis pain.
No single treatment helps all arthritis pain.
Over 50 million Americans suffer from arthritis. Arthritis is associated with pain, joint stiffness, inflammation, swelling and decreased range of motion. There are over 100 different forms of arthritis, with osteoarthritis (OA) the most common (40 million).
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease, where the body attacks itself. Antibodies develop and cause pain in joint tissues. Women are three times more likely to get this than men.
There is no single treatment that works for everyone with arthritis pain. Even two people with the same diagnosis will likely experience pain differently and react differently to different treatments. Your own pain may vary greatly from one day to another or throughout the course of a single day.
That’s why each person needs a pain management plan. What works for one person may not work for someone else. You may need to try several different treatments before you find one that works best for you. Dr. Ledbetter, Dr. Forte and Dr. Gordon will develop a pain management plan designed to minimize your unique pain experience and improve the function of your joints.
Precision injections for more effective pain relief.
Injection therapies are safe, minimally invasive procedures that can provide pain relief lasting for weeks, months or years. They can often relieve your pain symptoms when other pain relief treatments such as NSAIDs and other pain medications have failed to bring you adequate relief.
We are particularly interested in arthritis pain that affects the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine, as well as the sacroiliac joints. We may inject medication in or around these painful areas. The medication injected depends upon the type of injection therapy used, which is determined by the nature and exact location of the injury or pain.
At our state-of-the-art pain management facility in Monroe and Ruston, Louisiana, we rely on precise images to guide the vast majority of our pain relief injections. This is accomplished using a specialized medical device called a fluoroscope. Through fluoroscopic imaging, the optimum injection site appears on a high-definition video monitor. These images can be used in “real time” during the procedure and can be recorded for future reference.
Epidural injections – Medications are injected into the epidural space in the back area that surrounds the spinal cord’s outermost membrane, for back pain relief. We’re sometimes asked if these are the same as epidural injections given to women during childbirth. The answer is, “No, but there are similarities.”
Facet joint injections – Corticosteroids and anesthetics are injected between the vertebrae directly in the facet joint area for precise diagnosis and arthritic joint treatment.
Sacroiliac & other injections – Anti-inflammatory steroid medication and local anesthetic are injected to provide relief from pain caused by arthritis, injury or strain of the sacroiliac joint or other areas.
Radiofrequency Lesioning – Numbing medication is injected at the pain site followed by a radiofrequency device with an electrode carrying pulsed electrical energy to the pain site.
Please visit our patient education library to learn more about your options for arthritis pain relief.
Dedicated to helping you overcome pain.
Don’t let arthritis pain prevent you from living your life. Get Northeast Louisiana’s most complete range of modern pain treatment options — and lasting relief — from highly trained, highly credentialed pain specialists. Our physicians, Dr. Ledbetter, Dr. Forte and Dr. Gordon are the only board-certified and fellowship-trained pain physicians in the northeast Louisiana and south Arkansas area.
Over the years, they have accurately diagnosed painful conditions such as spinal arthritis in thousands of patients, and then successfully controlled their pain while improving their quality of life. They have helped people return to work, sports, activities, hobbies and lifestyles. Discover how they can help you, too.
We encourage, honor and welcome your referrals.
For more information about our effective arthritis pain solutions, call Louisiana Pain Care in Monroe or Ruston at (318) 323-6405 today or use our online appointment request form.