UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic Services: Comprehensive Pain Management

The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers provide world-class diagnosis and treatment of pain problems in a caring environment. As part of the UCLA Health Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, the clinic boasts a board-certified team of experts dedicated to providing comprehensive diagnostics and tailored treatment plans. Utilizing the latest advances in pain medicine, the team is committed to determining the cause of pain and the best way to treat it. Patients receive a full evaluation and thorough care plan, with adjustments made to medications and therapies as needed.

Comprehensive Diagnostics and Tailored Treatment Plans

The UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic offers a full array of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. These procedures are tailored to each patient's unique needs, ensuring the most effective treatment possible. The team uses the latest advances in pain medicine to determine the cause of pain and the best way to treat it. This commitment to innovation ensures that patients receive the most up-to-date and effective care available.

Whole-Person Care

Recognizing the significant impact of physical discomfort on mental health and well-being, the clinic adopts a whole-person care approach. This may include lifestyle changes, medications, therapy, and pain management procedures. The goal is to address not only the physical symptoms of pain but also the emotional and psychological aspects.

Expertise in Acute and Chronic Pain Management

The board-certified physicians at the UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic are equipped to help people with all types of pain. The first step in pain management is to determine what’s causing it.

Acute Pain

Acute pain is sharp or sudden pain that results from a specific accident or disease. The clinic's experts coordinate the patient's pain treatment plan with their primary care doctor and other specialists to ensure comprehensive care.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain lasts six months or more and can result from many medical conditions and injuries. The clinic's experts are adept at helping people with even the most complex chronic pain, understanding its significant effect on sleep, mental health, mood, and quality of life.

Addressing Various Pain Conditions

The UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic addresses pain that comes from multiple sources or hasn’t responded to previous treatments. Their services extend to the physical and emotional aspects of pain, providing a holistic approach to pain management.

Back and Neck Pain

Back and neck pain is one of the most common reasons why people visit a pain medicine specialist. The clinic understands that back pain can be extremely debilitating, having a serious impact on quality of life, causing problems with mobility, and keeping individuals from doing the activities they enjoy.

Cancer Pain

Pain can result from the cancer itself, or it can be a side effect of procedures and surgeries to treat cancer. The clinic provides comprehensive pain management strategies to alleviate cancer-related pain and improve patients' quality of life.

Joint Pain

A wide range of injuries and conditions can lead to joint pain in the spine, hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, and fingers. The clinic's experts work with patients to reduce pain and increase flexibility and movement, helping them regain function and mobility.

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Post-Surgical Pain

Most of the time, pain after surgery gets better within a few weeks. But sometimes, pain can persist after surgery. The clinic's physician experts find the cause of lingering pain and develop a comprehensive plan to treat it, ensuring that patients receive the necessary support to recover fully.

Nerve Pain

Pain that originates in the nervous system can be complex and debilitating. Nerve-related pain results from damage to the nerves, which can be caused by several medications and medical conditions, such as diabetes. The clinic's team approaches chronic pain with compassion, expertise, and proven treatments, understanding the impact it can have on quality of life, including sleep, work, and relationships.

Treatment Modalities

The highly skilled specialists at the UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic help patients find pain relief using a combination of treatments.

Conservative Treatments

Pain often gets better with conservative treatments such as medications, physical therapy, and rest. Whenever possible, the clinic prescribes nonopioid medications to reduce the risk of dependency, prioritizing patient safety and well-being.

Injections

The clinic's board-certified anesthesiologists are skilled at delivering many types of injections. These procedures relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and block overactive nerve signals. They work on the spine, inside the joints, and on nerves all over the body. Injections also help doctors diagnose pain by determining exactly where it’s coming from. These treatments are extremely effective and safe.

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Nerve blocks: The clinic injects numbing medication or anti-inflammatory medication directly into the source of pain, providing targeted relief.
Sympathetic blocks: These injections relieve pain from chronic pain syndromes. The medication targets the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions such as blood flow and digestion, helping to restore normal function.
Trigger point injections: Trigger points are muscle knots that develop when the muscles can’t relax. These injections help to release the knots and relieve pain.

Kyphoplasty

Kyphoplasty is a procedure to treat compression fractures in the spine. Using a hollow needle, the clinic injects a type of cement into damaged vertebra, stabilizing the spine and reducing pain.

Radiofrequency Ablation

Radiofrequency ablation, also called neurotomy or rhizotomy, targets specific nerves without damaging other tissues. This procedure can provide long-term pain relief by disrupting the nerve signals that cause pain.

Implantable Pumps

The clinic's experts may recommend an implantable pump to treat severe back pain, abdominal pain, and muscle spasms. The pump, which is about the size of a hockey puck, is inserted during surgery and delivers medication directly to the spinal cord, providing targeted pain relief with fewer side effects.

Spinal Cord Stimulation

This technique helps people with chronic back pain or pain in the arms or legs. The clinic inserts a pulse generator under the skin that delivers a low-voltage current to the spine. The current blocks the feeling of pain, providing significant relief for many patients.

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