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When Nothing Seems to Treat Your Chronic Pain, Ketamine Can Help

Every person experiences occasional pains and aches. Typically, the pain becomes less severe as the injuries heal. Unlike normal pain, with chronic pain, the body sends pain signals to the brain, even when your injury has healed. It could last a couple of weeks or even years. Chronic pain could restrict mobility and lower endurance, strength, and flexibility, making it difficult to perform daily activities and tasks.

The pain might feel dull or sharp, causing an aching or burning sensation on the affected area. It could happen in any body part. Some of the most typical chronic pain forms include:

• Headaches
• Lower back pain
• Postsurgical pain
• Cancer pain
• Neurogenic pain
• Arthritis pain

More often than not, initial injuries cause the condition. It is believed that it develops once nerves are damaged. The pain can sometimes stem from an underlying health condition like:

• Fibromyalgia
• Endometriosis
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Vulvodynia
• Interstitial cystitis

How is Chronic Pain Currently Treated?

The frequency and seriousness of chronic pain differ from one person to another, and doctors develop pain management plans specific to every patient. Some of the medications currently used to treat chronic pain include:

• Adjuvant analgesics like antidepressants
• Opioid pain relievers
• Over-the-counter pain relievers

Ketamine and Chronic Pain

According to a study conducted by Marieke Niesters et al., ketamine is used to treat numerous pain syndromes, mainly those with neuropathic components. Low dose ketamine has potent analgesia in neuropathic pain states, presumably by inhibition of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor. The researchers discovered that a short-term infusion produces potent analgesia only during administration. In contrast, prolonged infusions have a long-term analgesic impact up to three months after the therapy. 

Complex regional pain syndrome is a chronic pain condition where nerve impulses are sent to the affected site. It happens due to dysfunction in your peripheral or central nervous systems.

There isn't a single cause of CRPS. Some studies claim that pain receptors in the affected body part are responsive to catecholamines, nervous system messengers. When it comes to CRPS related to an injury, your immune response's trigger might cause the syndrome, leading to inflammatory signs of warmth, swelling, and redness in your affected site. 

The symptoms vary in length and seriousness. One of the symptoms is intense and continuous pain that worsens over time. Other symptoms include:

• Stiffness and swelling in the affected joints
• Burning pain
• Motor disability
• Skin changes
• Changes in your hair and nail growth pattern

Once you have been diagnosed, the doctor will first use various treatment methods to relieve your pain. Ketamine might be the solution if the following treatments fail:

• Medications like steroids, prescription painkillers
• Neuromodulation (involves the uses electrical stimulation to reduce the pain and slow the nerve firing)
• Physical therapy
• Nerve blocks

How Ketamine Treats CRPS

A person suffers from CRPS because there are changes in their central nervous system. And these changes cause pain signals in the body. This form of amplification of pain is caused by the activation of nerve cell receptors called NMDA receptors. Ketamine is an anesthetic that works on this receptor, blocking it from firing and decreasing pain.

Before starting your ketamine therapy, you should speak with one of our specialists. We will screen you to make sure you do not have a health condition that might worsen with ketamine.

A migraine is a neurological condition that can cause several symptoms. It is characterized by an intense, debilitating, and strong headache that comes with sensitivity to light, vomiting, and nausea. 

Women are more vulnerable to migraines than men. More often than not, migraines run in families.

Migraine could begin in childhood or might not happen until early adulthood. Migraine could progress through four (4) stages: prodrome, aura, attack, and post-dome. Not everyone goes through every phase. 

Your doctor cannot cure migraines, but they could help you manage them, so you get them less often and treat your symptoms whenever they happen. The treatment plan depends mainly on:

• How often you experience migraines
• The form of migraines you have
• Your age
• The severity of the migraine
• Whether the migraines come with vomiting or nausea
• Whether you have other diseases

The treatment plan might involve a combination of the following:

• Lifestyle adjustments such as avoiding a migraine trigger and stress management
• Self-care migraine remedy
• Prescription migraine medication
• Counseling
• Hormone therapy if your migraine is related to the menstrual cycle
• Alternative care that might include acupressure, acupuncture, meditation, biofeedback

How Ketamine Helps with Migraines

Low-dose ketamine infusions as a therapy for migraines treatment is gradually becoming a mainstream concept. There are numerous recent media reports with patient successes that we here at Pacific Ketamine Group have experienced. Less known is Ketamine's ability to block neurotransmitters from reaching the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Since the transmitters cannot bind, receptors cannot send pain signals, and you feel a significant decrease in the seriousness of your pain. 

At Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, scientists conducted a study on 61 subjects who received continuous 3-day to 7-day treatment with ketamine. The researchers discovered that three of four patients reported improved pain intensity at their treatment period's end. 

Every person feels anxious now and then. It is the brain's method of reacting to stress and alerting you of the pending danger. While occasional anxiety is okay, an anxiety disorder is different. It is a mental illness that leads to overwhelming and constant fear and anxiety that make you avoid school, work, and social gatherings. 

The most common symptom of an anxiety disorder is excessive worry and fear. The specific signs depend mainly on the form of anxiety disorder you suffer from. Common symptoms include:

• Sleeping challenges
• Inability to remain still and calm.
• Fear, uneasiness, and panic
• Dizziness
• Tense muscles
• Nausea
• Dry mouth
• Shortness of breath

Current Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Several treatments manage and reduce symptoms of your anxiety disorder. Usually, an anxiety disorder is treated using:

Medication like antidepressants, benzodiazepines, bupropion, and anticonvulsants, or 

Counseling and psychotherapy where you learn how your emotions affect your behavior 

Does Ketamine Treat Anxiety Disorder?

Yes, ketamine therapy could be an effective treatment for anxiety disorder patients. The relief treatment is quick and does not have side effects, leading to a peaceful and calming experience. Patients using ketamine for anxiety can also eliminate or reduce dependency on prescription drugs to manage the symptoms. You might even discover that you have the energy to make any lifestyle change required to keep anxiety at bay.

If you have an anxiety disorder, consider the advantages of ketamine therapy and call us to begin your healing journey. Our team of experts is ready to answer your questions and help you make informed decisions about your well-being and general health. 

Neuropathic pain is pain stemming from damage or nerve injuries where the damaged nerve sends wrong signals to other pain centers. The nerve injury effect includes changes in nerve function both at the injury site and around your injuries. Symptoms of neuropathic are described as burning or shooting pain that comes with numbness and tingling. 

There are several causes of the condition, including:

• Amputation
• Alcoholism 
• HIV infection
• Spine challenges
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy 
• Shingles 
• Multiple sclerosis

Neuropathic Pain Treatment

Treatment consists of 2 (two) components. The initial element involves treating the root cause of your pain. On the other hand, the second component treats your signs of pain, tingling, and numbness. Several forms of medications are used to treat neuropathic pain, such as antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, morphine, and anti-inflammatories.

An interesting alternative treatment that looks promising is the low infusion of ketamine. Ketamine works by blocking the NMDA receptor that is overstimulated in the neuropathic pain syndrome. Ketamine resets the nerve pathway back to normal, leading to pain reduction. 

To learn whether you are an ideal candidate for ketamine infusion therapy, please contact us today at (310) 928-6863. 

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that leads to extreme mood swings that might include emotional lows (depression) and highs (hypomania or mania).

When a person becomes depressed, they might lose interest in many activities, feel hopeless and sad. When the mood swings to hypomania or mania, you might feel euphoric, unusually irritable, or full of energy. The mood swings could affect energy, judgment, activity, ability to reason, behavior, and sleep.

Mood swings episodes might happen occasionally or several times a year. Although most patients will experience emotional symptoms between episodes, some might not experience any.

Bipolar disorder is an enduring mental condition, but you could manage its symptoms by complying with your treatment plan. Typically, it is treated with:

• Psychotherapy
• Medications like antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics
• Lifestyle changes 

The Role of Ketamine in Bipolar Disorder Treatment

Nancy Diazgranados et al. discovered that bipolar disorder patients experienced swift and impressive antidepressant effects when one intravenous dose of NMDA antagonist ketamine was administered. That means patients experience fewer anger outbursts, less depression, suicidal thoughts, and sleepless nights. Although ketamine comes with side effects, they are mild.

If you think you are an ideal candidate for ketamine, the initial step towards improving your life is reaching out to a seasoned treatment facility near you. At the Pacific Ketamine Group, we offer effective and safe ketamine infusion therapy with commitment or impeccable, compassionate, and professional care.