If you experience chronic pain that keeps you from living your life, you should know about ketamine. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic extensively used to induce and maintain anesthesia in medicine. This compound has received interest in recent years due to its ability to treat severe depression in as little as one treatment. However, one application of ketamine has lately emerged: ketamine for pain management. Several studies over the last decade have looked into ketamine infusion treatment for chronic pain and found it to be helpful for some patients. Do you believe ketamine is right for you? Call Gateway Spine & Pain Physicians in Chicago now to make an appointment!
Ketamine is an established anesthesia and short-acting painkiller that has been used for around 30 years in both veterinary and human medicine. Ketamine was recently the subject of trials to treat chronic pain after other treatments, such as opioids, have failed. Among the illnesses being researched include cancer, Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, phantom pain, postherpetic neuralgia, sickle cell disease, and spinal injury.
Ketamine therapy has also been demonstrated to be helpful in reducing chronic pain when administered in precisely calibrated amounts under the direct supervision of a physician, without the addictive potential and other adverse side effects associated with opiate pain medications. People with debilitating chronic pain who have not found relief with other pain medications or treatments, like opioids or NSAIDs, may benefit from this drug.
Researchers don’t know exactly how ketamine is able to resolve chronic pain issues. Ketamine is a drug that acts on several different systems in the body and brain. We know that at low doses, ketamine is effective as a mild analgesic, similar to low doses of morphine. We also know that ketamine is an NMDA receptor agonist. This means it binds to the NMDA receptor protein on cell membranes, preventing glutamate from binding. In the brain, glutamate is used to communicate between neurons. At high doses, ketamine appears to suppress glutamate, making it an effective anesthetic. At modest levels, however, glutamate synthesis is boosted. Ketamine also affects the mTOR pathway, the AMPA receptor, and even the opioid receptors in the brain; however, we don’t know which systems are responsible for which effects. Because of how complex the interactions are, researchers are always on the lookout for new uses for ketamine.
At Gateway Spine & Pain Physicians, we don’t simply give patients a single treatment and expect it to work. We understand that treating chronic pain requires an individualized approach.
Our Chicago pain specialists approach each case with the purpose of providing a prompt and accurate diagnosis, as well as a patient-centered treatment plan. Gateway Spine & Pain uses an approach that emphasizes holistic therapy rather than drugs, and each plan is tailored to the patient’s specific needs. From counseling to regeneration medicine, our approach incorporates all established means of treating and, where feasible, healing painful disorders. If you’re suffering from chronic pain and you’re not finding relief with opioids or other typical pain relievers, contact Gateway Spine & Pain Physicians to see if ketamine infusion therapy is right for you.
Ketamine infusions can treat all kinds of pain. Some patients with fibromyalgia pain, cancer pain, and neuropathic pain experience relief after ketamine infusion therapy. Talk to one of our pain specialists to know if it’s right for you.
Ketamine is a fast-acting medication that produces pain relief within hours. The effects vary from person to person and will depend on the pain you are trying to treat.
Although there is no minimum age for ketamine treatment, we specialize in providing pain management solutions for those over 18 years old.
The duration of ketamine infusion therapy for pain relief will vary greatly depending on the individual and the pain treated. Schedule an appointment with Gateway Spine & Pain to learn more about what similar patients experienced.
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