Unless you have suffered from chronic pain, you cannot begin to understand how it impacts the lives of those who have this debilitating condition. Chronic pain comes in many forms and from many sources, but managing it is difficult, whatever the circumstances. If you have chronic pain, you understand the frustration of trying to manage it through medications and other therapies. At Ketamine Healing Clinic of Los Angeles and Orange County, we also understand the frustration of chronic pain and we have an effective ketamine treatment option that can help you take back your life.
The two main types of treatments for chronic pain rely on medications and some form of physical therapy. While physical therapy may offer relief for some, it does not benefit all types of chronic pain. Medications, especially of the narcotic variety, can dull pain, but come with a host of other side effects. They can be addictive, debilitate mental/physical function and be detrimental to the overall health. Ketamine infusion treatments offer an alternative to pain medication and can supplement physical therapy for long-term relief from chronic pain, without the negative impacts of other medications.
Generally, pain infusions with Ketamine can successfully be completed via one of two routes:
- Pain Protocol A (PPA) – 5 infusions over 5-6 days.
- Pain Protocol B (PPB)- 1 infusion then reassess 48-72 hrs later. Repeat when pain returns.
PPA is typically more effective for longer term pain relief as compared to PPB. However, everyone is different, and for some one infusion may provide adequate pain relief. If you are unsure which protocol to use, but are able to complete five infusions in a short time span, Pain Protocol A will likely give you the best pain relief (assuming your pain is responsive to ketamine). For further questions about how Ketamine can relieve your chronic pain, you may contact us at (424) 278-4241 or [email protected].
Commonly Asked Questions
Is the Ketamine protocol/treatment the same for depression and for pain?
While some pain conditions do respond to the Ketamine mood protocol, not all pain conditions will. This is especially true of back pain. Chronic back pain does require a much higher dosage which would be infused over multiple hours. For Depression it would be one hour at a lower dose.
If I suffer from depression or anxiety as well as chronic pain, would the pain protocol help with my mood?
The pain protocol can help with depression, but it is not ideal because higher doses of ketamine require some sedation to be tolerated. And there is the possibility that sedation can impede in the dissociative aspect of Ketamine which can have a therapeutic effect. That being said, I have many patients whose depression is lifted with a high dose pain protocol.
If I am taking daily opiates for my pain, how does ketamine therapy work in conjunction with opiates?
We ask that opiates not be taken on the morning of an infusion. Eventually, patients whose pain has responded to Ketamine significantly decrease or stop using their opiates. This in turn has led many to see a lifting in their depression and greater daily productivity.
Can ketamine help with opiate withdrawal symptoms?
Ketamine can help with opiate withdrawal that is mild to moderate. Ketamine can also reduce opiate requirements for pain. However, weaning off opiates should always be done under the guidance of the prescribing physician so as to not elicit dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
What’s the long-term approach for using ketamine to manage chronic pain? How about chronic back pain?
Ketamine is not considered a permanent cure for any condition; but it is a highly effective alternative with minimal if any side effects. Some patients come back once every 4 months for continued relief, others once every 8 weeks, and some once a month. Everyone is different and there is no way to predict it until the treatment is tried. However, many patients have done one treatment and felt relief for longer than six months. Others have needed our 5 day pain protocol to feel prolonged pain relief that lasts longer than a few months.
Can ketamine therapy work well for patients with back pain that may or may not require surgery?
There are no large scale and good studies to provide a statistically significant answer to this question. However, of the patients I have treated, approximately 75% do benefit with significant pain relief, while 25% do not. Generally, if there is a high degree of anatomic pathology or nerve impingement, Ketamine therapy may be limited in providing pain relief. However, if the only other option is open surgery, Ketamine therapy may be worth trying at least once prior to proceeding with surgery. I have been surprised many times in my career with how much pain relief ketamine has provided.
Effective Treatment for Chronic Pain
Ketamine IV treatments for chronic pain offer our patients freedom from medications that can impact their mental and physical health. With no significant side effects, ketamine treatments can alleviate chronic pain and can address depression that often accompanies this condition. In as little as one treatment, our patients begin to take back their lives and manage their pain. With IV treatments and ongoing maintenance ketamine therapy, we have helped our patients with chronic pain find the relief they have been seeking so they can obtain a quality of life they deserve.
No one should live a life in pain. If you are tired of the negative impacts of pain medications or have not found relief from your chronic pain through other therapies, come see us at Ketamine Healing Clinics in Los Angeles and Orange County. Contact us today to schedule your consultation with Dr. Mahjoubi to learn more about our personalized approach to treating chronic pain with ketamine IV therapy.
