St. Charles County is one of the fastest-growing parts of Missouri, and its residents mostly cross the river for specialist care. Our main office at 4477 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63134 sits beside Lambert International Airport, which puts it among the closer interventional pain practices to St. Charles — roughly fifteen miles, and a straight run.
I-70 east across the Blanchette Bridge to I-170 south is the usual approach, exiting toward Woodson Road. From the Cottleville and Weldon Spring side, Page Avenue east across the river then I-270 north works equally well and often avoids the I-70 bottleneck. Our second office at 12174 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton is slightly closer to St. Charles and is a straightforward run east on I-70 then south.
Both offices have ground-level parking on site. Which one you are booked into depends on what is being done that day, and you will be told when the appointment is made rather than when you arrive.
Headache is the condition most often mistreated for the longest time, and it is worth spending this page on because the failure pattern is so consistent.
Patients cycle through abortive medications for years without anyone establishing where the pain is coming from. When the medications stop working, the dose goes up, and in a meaningful proportion of people the medication itself begins driving the headaches — a rebound pattern that looks exactly like the original problem getting worse.
Cervicogenic headache is the one most often missed. Pain generated by the upper cervical facet joints refers into the head, typically starting at the base of the skull and spreading forward behind the eye on one side. It is frequently diagnosed as migraine because that is what it feels like to the patient. The distinguishing features are that it tends to stay on one side, is provoked by neck position or sustained posture, and often follows an old neck injury. It responds to treatment aimed at the neck — see facet joint injection and radiofrequency ablation — and not at all to migraine medication.
Chronic migraine, properly diagnosed, has its own interventional option. Botox for chronic migraine follows a defined injection protocol and is indicated for patients with headache on fifteen or more days a month. It is not a treatment for occasional migraine, and we will say so rather than offering it to someone who does not meet the criteria.
Cluster headache and severe facial pain involve a different structure again. The sphenopalatine ganglion sits behind the nose and carries much of the autonomic supply to the face — which is why cluster attacks come with a watering eye, a blocked nostril and a drooping lid on the affected side. A sphenopalatine ganglion block targets it directly. See also cluster headache treatment.
The useful question to ask about any headache that has lasted years is not which medication to try next. It is which structure is generating it, and whether anyone has actually tested that.
Imaging is a starting point, not a verdict. A large share of people with no pain at all have disc abnormalities on MRI, and plenty of people in genuine pain have unremarkable scans. What settles it is examination combined, where appropriate, with a diagnostic block under image guidance that confirms the source before anything longer-lasting is committed to.
Around fifteen miles to Woodson Road, slightly less to Bridgeton. Outside peak hours it is a straightforward drive; the I-70 eastbound afternoon peak is the one to plan around.
Only if something would be done differently. Ask whether anyone has tested where the pain originates rather than treating the label — if the answer is no, that is the gap worth closing.
Not from us. Some insurance plans require one for coverage, and our staff will check your specific plan before you come in.
New patients are usually seen within a few days, and same-day appointments are held open for acute pain.
Call (314) 481-5000 or request a time. Most major insurance including Medicare is accepted, and both offices are listed on our locations page.
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Same-day and emergency appointments are available.