• Nociceptive Pain: Typically the result of tissue injury.
• Inflammatory Pain: An abnormal inflammation caused by an inappropriate response by the body’s immune system.
• Neuropathic Pain: Pain caused by nerve irritation.
• Functional Pain: Pain without obvious origin, but can cause pain.

Pain can be treated through a variety of methods. The most appropriate method depends upon the situation. Management of chronic pain can be difficult.

At LIV, we use an alternative approach to Musculoskeletal pain; we support your own body’s self-healing properties.

Some of the modalities that we utilize are:

1. Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT):  PIT is a proven safe, effective therapy that treats inflamed and injured nerves.  Chronic nerve pain is often due to trauma, arthritis, sports, overuse, occupational or surgical injuries.  When a nerve is injured, inflamed and lacks glucose, it sends continuous signals that the body interprets as pain.  Perineural injection therapy is a 5% dextrose solution that is injected near superficial nerves, feeds the nerves by entering the nerve cell receptor and restores the cell to its normal function.  PIT is usually well tolerated and there is no need for a local anesthetic.  The injection is administered with a very short and small needle just beneath the surface of the skin.  The number of injections depends on the extent of neuropathic inflammation.  After the first PIT treatment, many patients notice immediate soothing and pain relief and increased mobility for a few hours to days.  After subsequent treatments, pain is generally reduced for longer durations as the tissue progressively heals.
2. Prolotherapy:   Prolotherapy is a proven safe, effective therapy that treats injuries to connective tissues and joints.  Prolotherapy involves injections of a mild irritant to the injured part of your body.  Most of the time the injection contains dextrose, fluid, and a numbing agent.  We have the ability to customize the injection based on your individual needs.  The fact that the injection is a mild irritant stimulates your body’s natural healing response, and a cascade of events results in new, healthy cells.  You are likely to feel less pain, have more strength, and be able to move the injured joint better.  Usually prolotherapy takes about 30 minutes.  First, our Provider will clean the skin in the area being treated, spray a numbing spray, then give the injection.  You may be given a heating pad to use for 10-15 minutes following the injection.  In the hours or days following the treatment you may have some swelling, stiffness, or bruising.  These symptoms should resolve fairly quickly.
3. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP): The body  has the ability to heal itself!  Platelet rich plasma therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that can harness those abilities and amplify the natural growth factors your body uses to heal tissue.   Plasma is the liquid portion of whole blood.  It is comprised mostly of water and proteins, and it provides a medium for red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets to circulate through the body.  Platelets are blood cells that cause blood clots and other necessary growth healing functions. Platelet activation plays a key role in the body’s natural healing process. PRP therapy uses injections of a concentration of a patient’s own platelets to accelerate healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints.  PRP injections are prepared by drawing your blood and running it through a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets.  These activated platelets are then injected directly into your injured or diseased body tissue.  This releases growth factors that stimulate and increase the number of reparative cells your body produces. This can improve function and reduce pain.
4. Trigger Point Injections: A trigger point injection can help soothe muscle pain, especially in your arms, legs, lower back and neck. It also can be used to treat fibromyalgia, tension headaches and myofascial pain. Trigger points are painful “knots” in your muscles. They form when a muscle can’t relax. Pain relief can last about one month. Recurring injections may be needed to achieve long-term pain relief. If the injections consist of anesthetic only, patients can receive injections more frequently than if they also contain steroid medication.  What can you expect after a trigger point injection? The area may feel a bit numb for a few hours. It may also feel sore. Other problems from trigger point injections are rare.