Pain Management Center offers multidisciplinary approach to help those with chronic pain

Over 50 million people suffer from chronic pain in the United States. For these people, even the simplest activities like getting out of bed in the morning can be a major hurdle. For some, pain has a significant physical and financial impact – impeding their ability to work or enjoy their favorite activities. Fortunately, pain sufferers can find relief and treatment for a variety of painful medical ailments which do not typically respond to conventional therapy at Lowell General Hospital's Pain Management Center.

The newly renovated facility within our Saints campus opened July 9, 2013 to unify the pain management programs at both the Saints and the Main campuses. The center is led by board-certified pain management physicians Dr. G.K. Dwarakanath and Dr. Benjamin Henkle, who practice at the center full time. In addition, Dr. Atul Bhat and Dr. Michael Connelly conduct interventional pain procedures on a part-time schedule at the center. The care team includes nurses, physical therapists, and other professionals specially trained in a variety of techniques to manage pain. Here, patients will find comprehensive treatment for even the most difficult to treat conditions — such as pain caused by severe arthritis, cancer, or shingles. A spacious lobby area welcomes patients, with a patient paging system that ensures a quiet environment and patient privacy.

"Our goal is to provide comprehensive treatment by identifying the source of the pain and personalizing a plan unique to each patient to eliminate or reduce it. Most importantly, we empower patients in their care by teaching them how to manage it," says Dr. Dwarakanath. "Our objective is to improve function and minimize pain."

Services include injections and different types of nerve blocks to treat chronic pain. Medications may also be prescribed, including anti-inflammatory drugs, seizure medications, antidepressant drugs, and other new medications that recently have shown to have very promising effects in treating pain. Other treatments include injections that decrease pain and promote healing for shingles, and electrical nerve stimulation, to increase the body's own anti-pain substances.

"Our pain center also specializes in different techniques to treat chronic headaches as well as muscle tightness related to stroke or brain injury," says Dr. Henkle. "We are able to dramatically decrease a patient's symptoms with injectable medications such as Botox®. In the case of migraines our patients are reporting a decrease for three to four months in the number of headaches."

Help is available for a variety of medical conditions that are often resistant to pain control, including:

• Acute and Chronic Back and Neck Pain
• Cancer
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
• Disc Disorders
• Facet Joint Syndrome
• Musculoskeletal Pain
• Myofascial Pain Syndrome
• Neuromuscular Diseases
• Pelvic Joint Dysfunction
• Peripheral Nerve Injuries
• Peripheral Neuropathies
• Shingles
• Spasticity related to stroke, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury
• Spine Disorders
• Vertebral Compression Fractures
• Work-related Injuries

Physician referral is required. For more information, please read our Frequently Asked Questions or call 978-937-6460.