7 Ways to Treat A Stiff Neck – Starting with the Fastest

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Today, your rude awakening wasn’t the alarm clock.

It was your neck. 

If you have some or all of these symptoms, you have a stiff neck:

  • headache
  • tense muscles or muscle spasms
  • pain and difficulty or inability to turn the head
  • general neck soreness

Let’s look at seven ways to treat it, starting with the fastest. 

1. Take Over-the-Counter Pain Medicine 

If you don’t have any time, taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen or aspirin can lessen the pain by reducing inflammation. 

2. Try Self-Massage 

Step one: Find the sore, tense area with whichever hand is closest. You may be able to feel a raised lump. 

Step two: Press into the knot with one or more fingers. You can get creative and use a prop like a plastic lip balm or tennis ball instead of your fingers.

You may feel pain, but it should feel like the productive pain of a massage rather than sharp pain.

Step three: Turn your head slightly toward the side opposite the knot, then slowly bend it down toward a position parallel with your armpit. 

Step four: Repeat steps two and three about 20 times, then gently stretch your upper back as you usually do when getting out of bed. 

You can do this again throughout the day as needed. 

3. Try Hot Therapy 

Heat therapy can reduce pain by relaxing sore and tightened muscles. 

An easy way to apply heat is to dip a towel in warm or hot water, ring it out, then wrap it around your neck for as long as it’s warm. 

4. Try Cold Therapy

Cold therapy can reduce pain from pulled and tense muscles by lessening inflammation.  

To make a cold pack, put something frozen or cold such as a small wet towel, bag of ice, or reusable plastic freezer pack, in a sealed plastic bag. 

You may want to wrap a shirt or towel around the bag so that it doesn’t feel too cold against your skin. 

Next, hold the pack against the sore area of your neck long enough to feel it get very cold or even numb (but not painful). 

Heat or cold therapy alone can relieve pain, but the two can be even more effective when used together.

5. Get A Professional Massage

A massage therapist has the training to work the tension out and improve circulation in your sore neck.

6. Avoid Strenuous Physical Activity

Sometimes less is more. 

Sit out from your regular exercise routine or sports participation, and cancel your appointment to help move furniture.

Resting your sore neck is the priority.

7. Visit A Pain Specialist

It’s time to visit a pain specialist when your pain and stiffness don’t improve after more than a day or two of self-treatment. 

Pain specialists can identify whether a more serious underlying condition than tension or a pulled muscle is causing pain and discomfort in your neck. 

Pain Relief in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Outlying Areas

At Texas Pain Physicians, our team of pain specialists is here to help you find relief from the pain and stiffness. 

With 16 locations in major Texas cities, chances are we are nearby you. 

Feel free to call us at (972) 636-5727 or book an appointment online.

7 Treatment Options for A Pinched Nerve in Your Lower Back

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In your lower back, a pinched nerve, also known as a compressed nerve, can cause intense pain and discomfort.

You may experience the following symptoms in your lower back, hips, buttocks, legs, ankles, and feet:

  • stabbing and shooting pain
  • numbness 
  • muscle weakness 
  • muscle spasms
  • loss of reflex

General practitioners and pain specialists typically recommend these four simple, non-invasive treatments before anything else:

1. Medicine

  • non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
  • Naproxen sodium (Aleve)
  • muscle relaxers

2. Physical Therapy

Physical therapy with a certified therapist can help heal and lessen the pain of a pinched nerve by improving your coordination, balance, and strength.

3. DIY Treatments 

Heat and cold therapy: ice packs, hot and cold compresses

Sleep adjustment: sleeping with a pillow under your back or between your legs to help ease pressure on nerves

Ergonomic adjustments: Keeping your legs elevated and placing pillows under your legs during the day to take the pressure off your spine

4. Lifestyle Changes

  • increased activity through exercise (aerobics, yoga, pilates, tai chi, weight training, etc.)
  • dieting

Exercising and dieting to lessen inflammation and lose weight can help heal and alleviate the pain from pinched nerves and lower the risk of suffering another pinched nerve.

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE COMFORTABLE TRYING NON-TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS AND MANAGEMENT:

5. Non-Traditional Therapies

Massage: Massage therapy can relieve pain from a pinched nerve caused by tight muscles, tendons, and ligaments (not by pressure from a herniated disc or other spine problem). 

Acupuncture: Acupuncture practitioners and some patients report that that practice decreases inflammation in the body, decreasing pain.

Chiropractic: Chiropractic realignment may relieve pressure on the spinal nerves, which can, in turn, reduce the pain and heal a pinched nerve.

 

BUT SOMETIMES, THE PAIN IS SEVERE AND LONG-LASTING, AND PAIN SPECIALISTS WILL RECOMMEND MORE AGGRESSIVE TREATMENTS: 

6. Out-Patient Drug Treatment and Prescription Drugs

Oral corticosteroids such as prednisone, methylprednisone, and dexamethasone can reduce pain by suppressing the body’s inflammatory response. 

Corticosteroid nerve block injections in the lower back can stop or reduce the pain for weeks or months (find out more about this and other pain treatments here).

The drawback is that these steroid medications reduce the body’s ability to fight infection.

Doctors may prescribe these oral drugs instead:

  • prescription opioids (one to two weeks to avoid dependence)
  • muscle relaxers
  • anticonvulsants
  • tricyclic antidepressants

 

AS A LAST RESORT WHEN OTHER TREATMENTS HAVE FAILED, SPECIALISTS WILL RECOMMEND A SURGICAL PROCEDURE: 

7. Surgery 

Herniated discs are a common cause of pinched nerves. In some cases, a discectomy is the best option.

The procedure involves a surgeon removing all or part of the disk pressing on the nerve root.

But this surgery may also involve removing or fusing vertebrae, which raises the risk significantly.

Treatment at Texas Pain Physicians 

If you’re experiencing pain and discomfort in your lower back and legs, we can help. 

At TPP, we have specialists across many medical disciplines who will find the treatment plan that suits you. 

Please call us at (972) 636-5727 to find out more or make an appointment. You can also book an appointment online.

Need Fast, Non-Surgical Relief for Lower Back Pain? An Epidural Injection May Be the Answer.

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Doctors and pain specialists generally recommend natural, non-surgical, and non-opioid treatments for pain.

Physical therapy, massage, over-the-counter medicines, and hot and cold therapy are a few of the most common first-line treatments. 

Fast-Acting Pain Relief for Weeks or Months

However, your doctor or pain specialist may recommend an epidural injection or nerve block when you have nerve-related pain in your lower back and legs.

Epidural injections for back pain are a powerful, non-invasive treatment that can provide pain relief for several months.

How They Work

Epidural injections can:  

  • Provide local pain relief.  
  • Block pain signals sent from the surrounding nerves.  
  • Temporarily cut off all sensory and motor neurons from below the injection site.  
  • Reduce swelling and inflammation.  

An injection contains either an anesthetic, a corticosteroid, or both. 

The anesthetic stops the nerves around the injection site from sending pain signals, and the corticosteroid reduces the swelling and inflammation.

When targeting herniated discs and swelling, epidurals may take 24 to 48 hours to start working.

Conditions epidural injections can help heal and provide pain relief for include:

  • pinched nerve
  • pain radiating from the spine
  • degenerative disc disease
  • herniated or bulging disc
  • recovery from back surgery
  • spondylolisthesis  
  • spinal stenosis
  • Sciatica

Conditions they don’t help to heal and provide pain relief for include:

  • general back pain (non-nerve related pain)
  • pain from bone spurs
  • pain from cancerous or non-cancerous growths
  • pain from pulled muscles 

Epidural injections may temporarily relieve pain from bone spurs or growths, which irritate the surrounding tissue and nerves.

However, this temporary relief will only delay other treatments or interventions (such as surgery).

Why Get One?

Epidural injections can be a temporary pain fix when you need to “buy time” for your back to heal from an injury.

They can also provide pain relief from a chronic pain condition as you go through physical therapy or other treatments with delayed benefits.

Though you will have to visit your pain physician and endure a little pain from the injection, it may save you weeks or months of popping pain meds.

And with an epidural injection, there’s no risk of addiction (unlike even short-term opioid prescriptions).

Back Pain Treatment in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Irving

Texas Pain Physicians is a leading patient-centered pain practice in Dallas, Houston, Irving, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas. 

Our pain specialists partner with you to help you achieve long-lasting pain relief. 

Please give us a call today at (972) 636-5727 or book an appointment online.

Get that (Suspected) Rotator Cuff Injury Diagnosed and Treated ASAP!

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That nagging shoulder pain that’s hung around a while could be more than a pulled muscle. 

Weekend sports, carrying and moving things, horsing around with your kids, reaching to wash your back in the shower – whatever life brings your way, if it ends with shoulder pain and weakness, it may be a torn rotator cuff.

Please see a specialist ASAP. 

The rotator cuff is the group of muscles that keep the shoulder stable.

And torn rotator cuffs DON’T heal on their own. 

You could develop a painful degenerative rotator cuff issue without timely surgical repair. 

Also, as you age into your 40s and beyond, arthritis is more and more likely to set in.

Arthritic shoulder degeneration will eventually require shoulder replacement surgery.

What to expect from your visit. 

The first appointment with a pain specialist is similar to an appointment with a general practitioner. 

First, they will take down your medical history. 

Next, they will give you a physical exam and take some x-rays. 

If there is muscle weakness in the shoulder, they will typically order an MRI appointment at a medical imaging facility.

Treatment 

Pain specialists will recommend natural, conservative treatments such as over-the-counter medicines and physical therapy whenever possible.

Conservative Therapies

Rest, heat and cold therapy (cold and hot compresses and packs), and anti-inflammatory medication such as aspirin can help soothe and heal minor rotator cuff injuries.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapists are experts in restoring function and lessening the pain and stiffness of rotator cuff injuries. 

Pain specialists often recommend physical therapists.

Whether you need to heal after a muscle pull or rehab after rotator cuff surgery, they can help speed the process.

Steroid Injection

If you have severe shoulder pain, your pain therapist may recommend a corticosteroid injection.

These injections can provide pain relief for up to several months. 

However, this is not a long-term pain management solution because multiple steroid injections can cause permanent tendon weakness.

Surgery

Surgery may be needed for severe rotator cuff injuries – whether they happened a while ago and have become degenerative or were recently torn.

Three types of rotator cuff surgery: 

1. Tendon repair – Minor, arthroscopic (small incision) procedure, and an open or large incision procedure.

2. Tendon transfer – Involves replacing the damaged tendon with a tendon taken from another body part.

3. Shoulder replacement – The most invasive procedure for the most severe injuries, degeneration, and severe arthritis.

Rotator Cuff Treatment in Dallas, Houston, Irving, and Other Texas Locales

If you’re experiencing shoulder pain and think you may have a torn rotator cuff or another injury, Texas Pain Physicians can help. 

Our shoulder specialists can find the cause of your pain and develop a personalized treatment plan. 

Please give us a call today at (972) 636-5727 or book an appointment online.

6 Benefits of Implanted Intrathecal Pain Pumps for Pain Relief

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Pain can keep you from doing things that lift your spirits.

Things like playing with the grandkids, working out, and going for walks in freshly fallen snow.

Imagine being able to control your pain with the push of a button.

That’s what an intrathecal pain pump can do for you.

Doctors have been recommending pain pumps for cancer pain, pain from injuries, and other kinds of chronic pain for over 40 years.

Here are six ways pain pumps can help you: 

1. Controlled pain relief for up to five years. 

It takes time for pills and caplets to digest and pass through the blood barrier to provide pain relief.

And bringing medication with you everywhere is not always convenient or possible.

With an intrathecal pump, you can press a button for immediate pain relief at any time and increase or decrease the dose as needed. 

Intrathecal pain pumps are implanted under the skin in a one-time procedure.

They can dispense pain relief on call for five years before needing replacement. 

2. 24/7 pain relief.

Pain medication eventually wears off, and sometimes, you may forget to take it.

Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep through the night and wake up in the morning pain-free, without needing to reach for pills?

You can set your pain pump to dispense pain relief all day and all night.

3. No side effects or risk for dependence.

You have to take much higher doses of oral pain medication because it passes through the digestive system before providing pain relief.

Higher doses can cause short and long-term side effects such as kidney or liver failure and constipation. 

But with pain pumps, medication is delivered directly to the pain site through your nervous system at a much lower dose. 

This way, there’s no pleasurable high and no risk for dependence (unlike opioids and other medications). 

4. The procedure is reversible. 

Unlike invasive surgeries intended to correct pain conditions, the pump implant procedure makes no permanent changes to your body.

And if you decide it isn’t working for you, you can have the pump removed at any time. 

5. Can test it before having the implant procedure. 

You can take a “test drive” or try out a pain pump to see whether it gives you the pain relief you need.

The trial pump involves a health professional installing a temporary pump system on your body.

It’s a lot like the permanent system, and you can try it for a few days. 

The faster alternative is a trial injection of a single dose of pain medication administered through a small catheter in the intrathecal space in your lower back.

If it brings relief, you may want to get a pain pump.

6. This therapy has a high satisfaction rate. 

In 2018 Nura Clinics ran a survey of 600 patients who had implanted pain pumps to relieve chronic pain.

Over 74% said they experienced “good to excellent pain relief.”

Over 90% said they experienced at least partial pain relief. 

Could a pain pump be for you?

Have you tried other pain therapies and treatments that haven’t worked?

Our caring team of pain specialists can help you decide whether intrathecal pain pump therapy is right for you.

Please give Texas Pain Physicians a call today at (972) 676-5727 or book your appointment online.

6 Treatment and Management Options for Lumbar Stenosis

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It’s been said that getting old isn’t for the faint of heart. At Texas Pain Physicians, we think getting old can be for the young at heart – when you aren’t in pain.

It’s true, degenerative conditions cause chronic pain and keep you from living life on your terms.

Lumbar Stenosis

Lumbar or lower back spinal stenosis, a common degenerative condition causing chronic pain, happens when the spinal canal in your lower back narrows, causing bone spurs and herniated discs that put pressure on the nerves.

Lumbar spinal stenosis can cause burning, pins and needles, pain, numbness, cramping, weakness, and other symptoms.

Treatment and Management 

But you have multiple treatment and management options.

Let’s look at six ways to treat and manage lumbar spinal stenosis.

1. Over-the-Counter Medication

Anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medicines such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB), acetaminophen (Tylenol), and naproxen (Aleve) can stop pain from spinal stenosis for a few hours.

Please be sure to consult with your doctor and use as directed.

2. Prescription Medication

Doctors often use tricyclic Antidepressants such as amitriptyline and Nortriptyline and anti-seizure drugs like Neurontin and Lyrica to treat chronic pain caused by nerve damage.

3. Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections into the affected area can help decrease the pain and inflammation caused by nerve damage.

But this treatment should be used as little as possible because repeated steroid injections are known to weaken nearby bones and connective tissue.

4. Physical therapy

Sometimes it seems impossible to start getting active. To begin stretching and exercising when you are in pain.

But it’s critical to try because being inactive can lead to muscle weakness and increased pain.

A physical therapist can help you perform exercises that strengthen your lower back and increase your spine’s flexibility and stability.

5. Daily Activity Modification

An occupational therapist can help you modify your posture and safely perform actions like sitting and bending over to avoid worsening your pain or hurting yourself.

Here are a few things you can do on your own if you can’t see a therapist or have to wait to see one:

  • Use walking support: Walking while bent over and leaning on a walker or shopping cart instead of walking upright
  • Get on a stationary bike: Stationary biking is a low-impact exercise, and you can lean forward on the handlebars for support.
  • Sit in the right chair: Sit in a chair with a backrest that reclines that you can stretch and rest your spine.

6. Wear A Neck or Back Brace

Wearing a neck brace or back brace restricts the spine’s movement, which helps avoid pain.

But if you wear a brace, try to limit it to short periods so that the muscles get enough stimulation and stay strong.

Spinal Stenosis Treatment and Management You Can Count On

Do you have spinal stenosis or suffer from lower back pain? The pain specialists at Texas Pain Physicians can help you get back on your feet and grab life by the horns again.

Please give us a call at (972) 636-5727 or book your appointment online today. We have 16 convenient locations in and around Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Irving.

What You Should Know about Shoulder Joint Injections for Shoulder Pain

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While physical therapy and exercise are ideal for treating and managing shoulder pain, sometimes that’s not possible.

For instance, diseased tendons and arthritic joints may cause severe pain and limit the range of motion. 

Shoulder joint injections can reduce inflammation and numb the pain — quickly.

Pain management specialists often recommend steroid injections for shoulder pain, provided the patient hasn’t had too many in the past. 

Steroid injections for shoulder pain help in two critical ways:

  1. Relieve pain so that the patient can rest and function. 
  2. Relieve pain so patients can do physical therapy to improve their shoulder condition. 

Reducing or eliminating inflammation and pain increases mobility and range of motion.

How they help relieve pain.

Reduce Inflammation: They take some time to start reducing Inflammation, but the pain relief comes within hours or days.

Numb the pain: They anesthetize the target area, immediately reducing or eliminating pain.

What Shoulder Conditions Shoulder Joint Injections Treat

Before recommending shoulder joint injections for any of the following conditions, pain specialists may order an X-ray or an MRI to clarify the issue. 

Also, shoulder joint injections aren’t the answer for all shoulder pain conditions. 

Rotator Cuff Injuries 

Rotator cuffs tears heal up on their own, except for the most severe tears. 

Like rotator cuff tears, rotator cuff impingements, or rubbing or pressure put on a rotator cuff tendon by nearby structures will almost always heal naturally. 

A pain-relieving injection can give you the mobility you need to kick start the healing process. 

Bursitis 

Bursitis is inflammation of a fluid-filled sac called the bursa sac, which has a pillow or cushioning effect that reduces friction between tissues and structures. 

Shoulder joint injections are a routine procedure to reduce bursa sac inflammation and pain. 

Tendinopathy

Shoulder joint injections are also a routine procedure and a fast treatment for Inflammation from swollen shoulder tendons. 

Arthritis

Arthritis can cause inflammation and swelling in the structures of the shoulder. Steroid injections in the shoulder joint provide pain relief and help patients perform exercises and physical therapy to strengthen the joint and reduce arthritis pain.

The Shoulder Joint Injection Procedure

Shoulder joint injections are outpatient procedures pain specialists administer in non-hospital medical facilities. 

The injections only take minutes, and patients can almost always leave and carry on with their schedules shortly after the procedure. 

Side effects are generally limited to minor pain and swelling at the injection site.

Shoulder Pain Treatment and Management in Texas

At Texas Pain Physicians, we are experts in finding the source of shoulder pain and treating it.

Whether injection or other treatment procedure or therapy, you are in caring hands because we only recommend what’s suitable for your unique pain condition. 

Please call us today at (972) 636-5727 or book an appointment online for more information.

 

Mirror Pain: What You Need to Know.

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What is mirror pain?

Maybe you had been in pain for a while because of a broken arm or leg. Then one day, the opposite limb started hurting — even though it wasn’t injured. 

That’s mirror pain.

Mirror pain happens in the exact same body part or body area on the opposite side of a trauma-affected or diseased body part. 

And it can strike anywhere in the body — even in healthy teeth on the other side of diseased, painful teeth. Fortunately, mirror pain is usually not as bad as the injured side. 

When does mirror pain strike?

Mirror pain symptoms usually begin after the nerve pain has turned chronic, typically three or more months after the original injury.

Chronic neuropathic pain can lead to nerve sensitization or increased sensitivity and spread the pain around the body.

In general, the greater the pain and inflammation in the injured area, the more likely the uninjured side will develop mirror pain.

How does mirror pain work?

You aren’t imagining it.

When you suffer an injury, your body’s immune response kicks on, and it starts attending to the injured limb or area.

That’s part of the healing process, and that’s good.

But sometimes, long after an injury, the body’s immune response affects the opposite, non-injured area. And that can cause nerve damage and pain.

Why does your body do this?

Though it may seem like the opposite of helpful, mirror pain may be the body’s way of sending you the message that you need to stay out of harm’s way for a while.

It may be trying to communicate something like, “Double the pain, double the caution.”

Is mirror pain treatable?

Like other nerve pain, mirror pain is treatable — but it’s also preventable. Indeed, nerve pain resulting from injury does not have to evolve into chronic nerve pain and spread to otherwise healthy limbs. 

When treating patients with acute nerve pain from trauma or disease, doctors and pain specialists need to devise the most effective pain management plan and apply it early and aggressively.

But even if you already have mirror pain, there’s no reason to worry because it’s very treatable. 

Pain specialists can effectively manage and treat it using medicines, therapies, and non-invasive techniques like electrical nerve stimulation. 

Pain Treatment You Can Trust

Do you have mirror pain or think you may have it? Our pain management specialists can devise a pain treatment plan that works for you. 

To find out how our multidisciplinary, interventional pain management treatment options can change your life, please give us a call or book an appointment online.

5 Ways to Help You Describe Your Pain to Your Doctor

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It can be hard to give your doctor an accurate depiction of your pain issue.

But it’s necessary to get the treatment you need. 

So, we created this list of five ways you can better describe your pain to your doctor to help prepare for your next visit.

1. Be ready to describe how severe it is. 

At your visit, doctors and nurses typically ask you:

  • How bad your pain is on a scale of one to ten.
  • Whether your pain is mild, moderate, or severe. 
  • To choose from several or more faces with expressions showing varying degrees of pain. 

Coming to your appointment prepared with answers to these questions will give your doctor a clearer picture of your pain issue.

2. Keep a detailed record of your pain. 

A “pain journal” is a great way to gather and organize your thoughts into a detailed, accurate pain record. 

Here are some questions to consider: 

  • When did it start? Is it constant, or does it come and go? 
  • If it comes and goes, what time of day do you feel it? In the night, morning, afternoon, evening, or more than one? 
  • Does any action like sitting down, laying down, or standing up make the pain better or worse? Does applying cold or heat to the affected area relieve or worsen it?
  • Is there any discomfort along with the pain, such as numbness, coldness, or warmth?

3. Choose a few words that accurately describe how it feels. 

Ask yourself whether the pain is dull, sharp, throbbing, radiating, or something else. Here are some words for inspiration:

  • Aching, burning, cramping, grating, lingering, penetrating, piercing, radiating, searing, scraping, shooting, splitting, stabbing, stinging, tearing, throbbing, tingling, tugging, wrenching, sharp, tender, tight, dull 

4. Be prepared to talk about any previous pain treatments. 

  • Have you tried acupuncture, chiropractic, or any other natural treatments or therapies?

5. Write down everything your pain keeps you from doing.

List all the things you would do in your daily life if pain-free or in less pain. Can you lift objects and twist, turn, and bend freely? Can you climb stairs and stand for extended periods?

Pain Management and Treatment with Kindness

The pain specialist team at Texas Pain Physicians provides friendly, compassionate care — from your first consultation to your last treatment.

If you’re in pain, please visit one of our locations in Dallas, Houston, Irving, or elsewhere in Texas. Give us a call today to schedule your appointment or book online.

7 Non-Invasive Treatments for Hip Pain

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Healthy hips let you twist and turn freely.

But hip injuries, failed hip surgery, and disease and degeneration from aging can keep you from doing all the working, playing, helping, and participating that your life demands.

Non-surgical treatment is the best way to address the pain and restore function. 

Here are seven non-invasive or non-surgical treatments for hip pain.

1. Steroid Injections 

Pain can stop you in your tracks, and when it does, steroid injections directly into the hip can give you immediate pain relief.

Steroid injections contain two main ingredients: a corticosteroid to reduce inflammation and a numbing agent or anesthetic to numb the pain.

2. Platelet-Rich Plasma Infusions 

Taking platelets from your blood and infusing them into your hip area can heal wounds and repair cartilage for hip problems caused by injury. 

There’s no scientific evidence, however, that this therapy is effective for pain due to arthritis. 

3. Nerve Block

Nerve blocks can provide short-term relief for chronic hip pain due to injury or hip surgery (including hip replacement surgery). 

The procedure involves injecting an inflammation-reducing steroid straight into the femoral-obturator nerves to stop them from sending pain signals.

4. Radiofrequency Ablation

Once nerve blocks successfully provide short-term hip pain relief, radiofrequency ablation becomes a viable option for long-term pain relief.

The procedure involves heating and inserting a specially-designed needle into the femoral and obturator nerves running into the hip joints. The needle’s heat can stop these nerves from sending pain signals for more than six months.

5. Trigger-Point Injections

In the hips and other areas, painful muscle knots known as “trigger points” can form when muscles are tense for too long. Often, you can feel these knots under the skin. 

These trigger points can irritate the nerves around them and cause you even more pain. 

A trigger point injection involves injecting an anesthetic, saline, or corticosteroid straight into the trigger point. One procedure can bring long-term relief.

6. Physical and Occupational Therapy

Regardless of what’s causing it, physical therapy can reduce pain over time by increasing flexibility and strengthening muscles and soft tissue.

And when it comes to reducing pain caused by daily life’s demands, occupational therapy can help. Learning healthy sitting and standing posture and sound techniques for movements like lifting objects and sitting up in bed can help minimize or eliminate pain.

7. Over-the-Counter (OTC) Pain Medications

OTC pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil) can relieve hip pain and reduce inflammation. 

Treatment for Hip Pain at Texas Pain Physicians

If you have hip pain, please give us a call today. We can explain more about any of these treatments and find out the best option for your specific health situation. 

If you would like to book a visit with us online, please click here.