Padda Institute, a pain management practice, is about five miles from Ferguson. Our main office at 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63134 is a short drive south. Our Natural Bridge Road office is about as far to the west.
The direct route is I-170 south to the Natural Bridge or Woodson exit. Side streets work just as well — Natural Bridge Road runs west from Ferguson toward both offices. You can skip the highway if you would rather not merge. Both offices have ground-level parking on site.
In north St. Louis County, chronic pain is often treated with pills alone. Often that is because nothing else was offered, not because something else was tried and failed. Interventional treatment is the other choice. Find the part of the body making the pain. Confirm it with a diagnostic block (a test shot that numbs one spot). Then treat that part directly.
When the source is confirmed and treated, the need for pills usually drops. That is the whole point.
This is worth saying plainly. It is the most common mix-up about what we do.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP is board certified in addiction medicine as well as interventional pain. Few doctors have both, and there is a reason he does. The doctor who decides to lower your medicine should be the one trained to handle what happens when it goes down.
Here is what that means for you:
What we do is treat the pain behind the prescription, so the medicine no longer carries the whole load. A refill-only plan is not part of that, and saying so now is more respectful than saying it after you have made the trip.
An emergency room can rule out an emergency, and that has real value. What it is not built to do is figure out why your back has hurt for eight months. Chronic pain in the ER usually means a long wait and a prescription on the way out. That is why we keep same-day appointments open.
Bring any scans you already have — the images themselves on disc or through a patient portal, not just the written report. The report is one doctor’s reading of a picture. With the picture, we can read it again and match it to your real symptoms.
Bring a list of your current medicines, with doses and how long you have taken each one. Also bring a short note on what you have already tried and what each one did. Say a shot helped for three weeks and then wore off. That tells us a lot — we likely found the right spot, and the question is how long relief lasts, not where to aim. If it did nothing at all, the problem is somewhere else.
Patients who bring this often leave the first visit with a firm plan. They do not need a second visit just to gather facts.
No. The first visit is a talk and an exam. Any change to your medicine is discussed, planned and watched, not forced on you.
For how current medication is handled at the first visit, read What Actually Happens at a First Interventional Pain Appointment.
Coverage depends on your plan. Call us and our staff will check your benefits before you come in, so there are no surprises.
Not from us. Some plans need one to pay; we will check yours.
For which plans require a referral, read Do You Need a Referral for Pain Management?
Often at the first visit, at least as a working answer. To confirm it we may need a diagnostic block. Sometimes that can be done the same day.
Medicine is not where we start or stop. The goal is to find the part of the body making your pain. We confirm it with a diagnostic block and treat that part directly. When that works, the need for pills usually drops. If you already take opioids, any change is planned and watched by a doctor board certified in addiction medicine. We do not just keep refilling a prescription and ignore the pain behind it.
Yes. We keep same-day slots open for pain that needs care now but is not an emergency. An ER can rule out an emergency, and that has real value. But it is not built to figure out why your back has hurt for eight months. Call (314) 481-5000 or use the appointment page to ask for one.
No. You will not be discharged for asking. Struggling with medicine is a medical problem we can treat. It is exactly the talk Dr. Padda’s addiction medicine board certification exists for. If your dose keeps rising while the relief keeps shrinking, that is a clue. Years on opioids can turn up pain sensitivity. It is not a personal failure.
Call us or request a time. We accept most major insurance, including Medicare.
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Same-day and emergency appointments are available.