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By Jennifer Churchill, Carson City Hospital Public Relations and Marketing Manager
Sometimes, something more serious than cold weather keeps us from the healthy, active lifestyle we want.
For more years than she can remember, Tina Flegel – an active outdoorswoman and mountain biker – lived in almost-constant pain. Then she tried something offered by the Carson City Hospital Pain Clinic that she’d never even heard of before, something called “rhizotomy.”
Parut Bhimalli, M.D., an anesthesiologist and a pain specialist in the Pain Clinic, treated Tina with this radiofrequency ablation of occipital lobe procedure.
Rhizotomy, specifically radiofrequency rhizotomy, is a procedure used for relieving pain. Nerves sometimes cause pain by getting “stuck,” such as in the neck, sending false pain information to the brain. Drugs are not the right solution, because the nerve is still “stuck.” Rhizotomy can turn the pain “off” at the source – just a needle, some X-ray guidance, and a small electrode are used to cauterize the nerve fibers that extend to the joints. Radiofrequency rhizotomy uses heat to unplug it.
Patients’ pain relief often lasts much longer than if local anesthetic and steroid blocks were used.
“Now, I’m out there biking again and feeling much better,” said Flegel, an Ithaca resident (pictured on her bike and with Dr. Bhimalli after a recent treatment).
The Pain Clinic offers a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, including steroid injections, neurolytic blocks, implantation of spinal cord stimulators, and personalized pain management counseling.
Pain syndromes the clinic treats includes cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal pain; failed back and neck surgery; cancer pain; various visceral pain syndromes; headaches; musculoskeletal pain; peripheral neuropathic and central neuropathic pain; phantom limb pain; sacroiliac joint pain; Piriform’s syndrome; complex regional pain syndrome; and fibromyalgia.
“Our goals are to reduce pain and suffering and help our patients return to work and to a productive, quality life, as well as reduce the use of pain medications and the cost of medical care,” said Dr. Bhimalli. “With comprehensive, effective treatments, we treat the cause – not just the symptoms – of pain.”
For more information, you can call the hospital at 989-584-3131 or contact the Pain Clinic directly at 989-584-3971 ext. 182.
Jennifer Churchill is a resident of Crystal, Michigan, and the Marketing and Public Relations Manager at Carson City Hospital.
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