The traditional solution to chronic back, joint or muscle pain is medication or invasive surgery. At Island Sports & Spine, Drs. Robert Billow and Jeffrey Krause are using innovative ways to stop pain. Interventional pain management procedures are minimally invasive techniques that block the pain to help make day-to-day activities less painful without the need for surgery or opioid medications.

Block the pain – don’t mask it with medication

Rather than relying on medications or surgery, interventional pain management uses procedures to block the source of pain between the nervous system and the brain.

“At Island Sports & Spine, we believe in collaborative care to help our patients manage their pain. We often refer patients to physical therapy, spinal manipulation or medical massage as part of their care plan,” explains Dr. Robert Billow.

We treat a wide range of injuries and conditions from all stages of life:

• Sports injuries
• Work-related injuries
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Herniated disk
• Arthritis
• Tendonitis
• Muscle, nerve, soft tissue and joint-related problems
• Post-COVID pain conditions
• PTSD

Innovative treatments

Our providers understand how pervasive and negatively impactful chronic pain can be on a person’s life. They carefully evaluate each patient to understand the injury and source of pain and learn about a patient’s lifestyle and goals before making a treatment recommendation. Our providers use a wide range of procedures, including:

Epidural and Nerve Root Blocks: These procedures can help alleviate neck, back, arm and leg pain.

Facet Joint Injections: This diagnostic procedure determines if the facet joint is the source of your pain.

Facet or Medial Branch Rhizotomy: A specialized needle gently stimulates the inflamed nerve, then radiofrequency heat is passed through the needle and applied to the nerve to decrease pain signals.

Genicular Nerve Ablation: This procedure uses radiofrequency to block chronic knee pain through the genicular nerves.

Prolotherapy: This injection treats chronic, musculoskeletal pain and utilizes the body’s own healing process to repair tissue and strengthen the injured area.

Sacroiliac Joint Injections: Numbing medicine is injected into the joint, and the amount of immediate pain relief experienced will help confirm if the joint is the source of pain.

Viscosupplementation: Usually applied to a knee joint, an injection of gel-like synthetic joint fluid is used to lubricate joints and decrease inflammation.

What to expect

To begin your journey toward pain relief at Island Sports & Spine, you will be seen for an initial consultation with one of our providers. We often begin with a musculoskeletal ultrasound to obtain a visual of the muscle, tendon or joint so we can focus treatment remedies. Advanced imaging, such as a CT or MRI, is often recommended. Then, we’ll schedule a follow-up appointment to review imaging and discuss an individualized treatment plan.

If you suffer from chronic pain, it is important to talk to your primary care physician. They can help you with a referral to see one of our specialists. Patients can also self-refer. If you have any questions about the referral process or would like to schedule an appointment, please call 360.299.4929.