Pain treatments · St. Louis

Pain Treatments

Conditions We Treat

Padda Institute treats chronic pain in St. Louis with minimally invasive care. That means facet joint injections and radiofrequency ablation, epidural steroid injections, and selective nerve root blocks. It means nerve testing (electrodiagnostic testing). It means in-office shockwave, cold laser, and traction therapy. We take digital whole body X-rays on site.

Padda Institute Center for Interventional Pain Management offers many minimally invasive ways to get you relief. Our treatments have been shown to work. Our goal is to improve each patient’s whole health. Better health means a better life. At Padda Institute, we feel your pain. So our mission is to find and treat every chronic pain problem, all the way to the root.

Cold laser therapy console showing 650, 808, 905 and 980 nm wavelengths at Padda Institute

Cold Laser Therapy (Photobiomodulation)

Cold laser therapy, also called photobiomodulation, uses red and near-infrared light at 650, 808, 905 and 980 nanometers. It calms...

Clinician delivering shockwave therapy to a patient in a treatment room at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Shockwave Therapy

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy sends focused sound pressure waves into long-standing tendon and soft-tissue injuries to spark repair. We give it...

Pneumatic cervical traction unit at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Pneumatic Cervical Traction

Pneumatic cervical traction gives the neck controlled, measured decompression (a gentle stretch). It takes pressure off the neck discs and...

Whole body high intensity infrared therapy table at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Whole Body Infrared Therapy

Whole body high-intensity infrared therapy sends warmth deep into your body. It eases muscle guarding, boosts blood flow and helps...

Whole body vibration therapy platforms at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Whole Body Vibration Therapy

Whole body vibration therapy uses a shaking platform to make your muscles work by reflex. It builds load tolerance when...

Digital whole body X-ray room at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Digital Whole Body X-Ray

Digital whole body X-ray performed on site at Padda Institute in St. Louis. Your scan and your exam happen in...

Cognivue [Cognitive and Memory Testing] cognitive assessment station at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Cognivue Cognitive Assessment

Cognivue provides an objective, computerized cognitive assessment. It tracks changes in thinking during chronic pain care, opioid tapering or metabolic...

Fluoroscopic image of anterior plates and two intradiscal spacers in a failed back surgery patient

Failed Back Surgery Syndrome

Failed back surgery syndrome is pain that stays or comes back after spine surgery. The usual causes are epidural scar...

Fluoroscopic image of a medial branch nerve block with contrast outlining the target

Cancer Pain Management

Cancer pain is a condition rather than a single diagnosis. Organ, bone, nerve and mechanical pain often show up together....

Daytime exterior of the Padda Institute Center for Interventional Pain Management at 4477 Woodson Rd, St. Louis, Missouri

Electroanalgesia (TENS and PENS)

Electroanalgesia uses controlled electrical stimulation to block and turn down pain signals. It is for nerve pain that has not...

Wildflower garden outside the treatment room windows at Padda Institute, 4477 Woodson

Anxiety, PTSD and Chronic Pain

Many of our patients have suffered significant trauma, either mental or physical. It keeps their anxiety high all the time,...

Fluoroscopy suite with C-arm and procedure table at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Facet Joint Injection

The spine is designed to bend and turn. Along with the intervertebral discs, facet joints (also referred to as Z...

Dr. Padda performing an image-guided injection under live fluoroscopy at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Facet Joint Radiofrequency (Rf)

A patient with primary facet pain, proven with either one or more blocks, may be a candidate for a facet...

Fluoroscopic image of the piriformis region with extensive scarring, a common source of sciatica-type pain

Sciatica Nerve Pain Treatment

Sciatica mainly refers to the pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve branches from the lower back,...

Pneumatic cervical traction unit at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Severe Head And Neck Pain

The goal of the Padda Institute Headache Section is to provide diagnosis and treatment that will help people who experience...

Diagnostic ultrasound cart and exam table at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Stellate Ganglion Block

Your body has special nerves known as sympathetic nerves in your neck which ,control blood supply and sweating to your...

Fluoroscopy procedure room with live imaging monitors at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Vertebroplasty

Bed rest and strong pain medicine are no longer the only treatments for back pain caused by compression fractures of...

Fluoroscopy-guided injection being performed by Dr. Padda at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Epidural Steroid Injection (ESI)

Back pain affects nearly everyone at some point in their adult life. Often the exact cause of pain is not...

Interventional pain procedure performed under live imaging at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Selective Nerve Root Block

Nerve roots exit your spinal cord and form nerves that travel into your arms or legs. These nerves allow you...

STORZ Medical shockwave therapy unit at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Serious Foot Pain

Nearly 60% of patient’s with chronic forefoot pain presenting to a podiatry practice have surgical intervention, yet only 50-60% of...

Fluoroscopic image of the lumbar spine during a guided sympathetic chain injection

Pancreatitis Pain Treatment

Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large gland behind the stomach and near the first...

Fluoroscopy imaging monitors and C-arm in the procedure suite at Padda Institute

Discogram

The disks are soft, cushion-like pads that separate the hard bones of your spine. A disk may be painful when...

Illustration of an EMG and nerve conduction study showing surface electrodes, needle electrode and the monitor traces for nerve and muscle testing

Electrodiagnostics

Electrodiagnostics (EDX) testing checks the health and function of the peripheral nervous (most cranial nerves..

Digital whole body X-ray room at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Car Accidents Injuries

At Padda Institute Of Pain Management, we understand that car accidents can result in a wide range of injuries. That...

Cold laser therapy console showing 650, 808, 905 and 980 nm wavelengths at Padda Institute

Cluster Headache Treatment

Cluster Headache is a very severe primary headache disorder. In any one year, about 0.1% of people have it.

Whole body high intensity infrared therapy table at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), once called reflex sympathetic dystrophy, is lasting burning pain in an arm or leg after...

Whole body vibration therapy platforms at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Diabetes And Neuropathy

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) is the most common complication of diabetes, and often presents as a distal, symmetric..

Portable ultrasound probe used for image-guided injections at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Hip Joint Injection

The hip joint is a large joint where the leg joins the pelvis. It works as a ball and socket....

C-arm fluoroscopy imaging during an interventional pain procedure at Padda Institute

Lumbar Sympathetic Nerve Block

Your body has special nerves known as sympathetic nerves in your back that control blood supply and sweating to your...

Cold laser therapy handpieces at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Migraine Headaches

Headache is among the principal reasons for physician visits and a common cause of emergency department visits.

MILD Procedure for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Minimally invasive lumbar decompression for spinal stenosis caused by a thickened ligamentum flavum (a ligament along the back of the...

Sacroiliac Joint Fusion

Minimally invasive SI joint fusion for sacroiliac joint dysfunction, using the iFuse and Catamaran implant systems. Performed in St. Louis.

Intracept Basivertebral Nerve Ablation

The Intracept procedure treats vertebrogenic low back pain by shutting down the basivertebral nerve inside the spine bone. You go...

Fluoroscopic image of the lumbar spine during a guided sympathetic chain injection

Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Injection

A sacroiliac joint injection puts anti-inflammatory medicine into the SI joint under fluoroscopic guidance (live X-ray). We do it at...

Fluoroscopic image of the lumbar spine during a guided sympathetic chain injection

Kyphoplasty

Vertebral compression fractures are among the most common fractures in people with osteoporosis. They are often missed or brushed off...

Radiofrequency generator in the procedure suite between treatment cycles

Trigger Point Injections

A trigger point injection places local anesthetic right into a tight, painful band of muscle. It breaks the cycle of...

Radiofrequency generator ramping up at the start of a treatment cycle

Celiac Plexus Block

A celiac plexus block puts local anesthetic (numbing medicine) around the celiac plexus, a nerve bundle in the upper belly,...

Procedure suite console at the completion of a radiofrequency treatment cycle

Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block

A sphenopalatine ganglion block puts local anesthetic (numbing medicine) on the SPG, a nerve cluster behind the nose. It cuts...

Fluoroscopic view of the lumbar spine dorsal root ganglion targeted during neurostimulation

Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation uses a small implanted device to send mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord. The pulses block...

Fluoroscopic view of the lumbar spine dorsal root ganglion targeted during neurostimulation

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

Peripheral nerve stimulation places a thin wire (a lead) next to one damaged nerve. The lead sends electrical pulses that...

Portable ultrasound probe used for image-guided injections at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Hydrodissection

Hydrodissection uses an image-guided fluid injection to separate an entrapped peripheral nerve from surrounding scar tissue or fascia. It takes...

Fluoroscopic image of the lumbar spine showing epidural contrast spread at L4-5 and L5-S1 during an image-guided procedure at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Epiduroplasty (Epidural Lysis of Adhesions)

Epiduroplasty, also called epidural lysis of adhesions, uses a thin tube (catheter) under fluoroscopic guidance (live X-ray) to break up...

Needle positioning confirmed on live fluoroscopy before radiofrequency lesioning

Ultrasound-Guided and Fluoroscopic Procedures

Padda Institute performs procedures under both ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance in St. Louis. Ultrasound lets us watch a joint, muscle,...

Fluoroscopic image of a medial branch nerve block with contrast outlining the target

Nerve Blocks

A nerve block puts local anesthetic (numbing medicine), sometimes with a steroid, around one nerve or nerve group to cut...

Diagnostic ultrasound cart and exam table at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Genicular Nerve Block

A genicular nerve block places local anesthetic around the genicular nerves that serve the knee joint. It is done under...

Radiofrequency generator showing an 80 degree Celsius lesion cycle during nerve ablation

Genicular Radiofrequency Ablation

Genicular radiofrequency ablation puts controlled heat on the genicular nerves that serve the knee. It blocks pain signals for far...

Portable ultrasound probe used for image-guided injections at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Viscosupplementation (Knee Gel Injections)

Viscosupplementation injects hyaluronic acid into the knee joint to add to the joint fluid that osteoarthritis has thinned. Padda Institute...

Live fluoroscopy image displayed in the Padda Institute procedure suite

Botox for Chronic Migraine

Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) is an FDA-approved preventive treatment for chronic migraine. It is given as 31 small shots across seven head...

Fluoroscopic image of the lumbar spine during radiofrequency treatment of the low back

Cluneal Neuropathy

Cluneal neuropathy is a pinched superior or middle cluneal nerve where it crosses the iliac crest or sacrum. It causes...

Fluoroscopic image of the left piriformis region during a guided piriformis injection

Piriformis Syndrome

Piriformis syndrome is pressure on the sciatic nerve from the piriformis muscle in the buttock. The pain mimics lumbar radiculopathy,...

Exterior of the Padda Institute clinic at 4477 Woodson Rd, St. Louis, Missouri, at night

Ketamine for RSD, CRPS and Refractory Nerve Pain

Ketamine blocks the NMDA receptor. That is why we consider it for RSD, CRPS and stubborn nerve pain once standard...

Patient wearing videonystagmography headgear with electrodes placed around the eyes while the recording unit and laptop capture eye movement during balance testing at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Balance and Fall-Risk Testing

Cognivue [Cognitive and Memory Testing] cognitive assessment station at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Medical Weight Loss

Physician-led weight management for patients whose pain and metabolic health are linked. It combines coaching, food, medicine, lifestyle medicine and...

Counseling and group therapy room at Padda Institute, St. Louis

Counseling for Chronic Pain

In-house psychological counseling for chronic pain. We use cognitive behavioral and acceptance-based methods next to interventional (procedure-based) pain treatment and...

Sample Measura cardiometabolic and vascular elasticity report used in lifestyle coaching

Lifestyle Medicine

Treating the terrain around chronic pain: sleep and body-clock timing, food, movement, and the metabolic and inflammation markers that decide...