By Dr. Bernard J. Lane, MD
Millions of Americans suffer the devastating impact of chronic pain on their day to day lives, desperate for reprieve in the setting of a deadly opioid epidemic. You deserve a life with less pain and a greater sense of well-being.
Ketamine has emerged as a novel treatment of pain with neuropathic features such as pain associated with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (which may development as a result of traumatic injury), fibromyalgia, pain from peripheral vascular disease and even headaches.
Not only has ketamine demonstrated success as part of a treatment plan for chronic pain disorders, but it has also demonstrated its ability to reduce the prescription pain medicine (opioids) needed by those suffering with pain.
Ketamine for chronic pain is given at much lower doses than for anesthesia with minimal side effects for the majority of patients. Intravenous or IV ketamine is the most effective method of drug delivery as it is delivered directly into the body’s circulation.
Your doctor will evaluate you for the appropriate ketamine treatment plan both for the safety and the success of the intervention. To a large extent, the duration of the ketamine infusion and the number of infusions needed will be dictated by each patient’s response as assessed by the patient-physician team.
