Living with chronic pain can be overwhelming, and it can lead to depression, anxiety, insomnia and difficulties at work and with loved ones. Our pain medicine experts specialize in advanced pain management, focusing on nonnarcotic treatments. You’ll receive comprehensive care and learn how to reduce the effects of acute and chronic pain.
Treatment for Chronic Pain: Why Choose Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital?
Your dedicated pain management doctors provide comprehensive care to manage chronic pain. People come to our Pain Management Center for our:
- Extensive expertise: Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital all specialize in pain management. They have fellowship training (additional specialized training) and hold board certifications in pain medicine. Our approach brings together experts in pain medicine, anesthesiology, psychology, pharmacy, and physical medicine and rehabilitation for comprehensive pain management.
- Collaborative approach: We hold weekly meetings in which our entire team comes together to discuss complex cases. During these meetings, we share our expertise and discuss next steps, tailoring a comprehensive treatment plan for each patient.
- Access to world-class care: Our pain management doctors are all Washington University faculty, involved in educating the next generation of doctors and advancing scientific breakthroughs. When you come to us, you have access to all the resources and expertise of an academic medical center.
- Treatment based on groundbreaking research: At the Pain Management Center, you’ll receive care developed through the latest advancements in pain medicine. Our physicians conduct research at Washington University School of Medicine to bring the latest treatments to you.
Our Advanced Approach to Pain Management
At Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, our pain management doctors come from various backgrounds, and all have a specialization in pain management. Through our multidisciplinary approach, we work to understand the complexities of chronic pain and how they affect each patient.
With a thorough understanding of the pain and other symptoms you’re experiencing, we develop a personalized treatment plan that incorporates several therapies. Our main areas of treatment include:
Medications
Whenever possible, we use nonnarcotic medications, which include prescription and over-the-counter medicines, to relieve pain. Our team helps you taper the use of narcotic/opioid medications for sustainable, long-term treatment.
Injections
Injections may provide pain relief for people with specific conditions. Injection therapies allow you to progress in physical therapy and rehabilitation and may help you avoid surgery.
We often use fluoroscopy (moving X-rays) or ultrasound imaging to guide needle placement for accuracy. Some common types of injections we use include:
Physical therapy
Physical rehabilitation and conditioning can be helpful in pain management. If these therapies may benefit you, our pain specialists can refer you to a physical therapist or other rehabilitation specialists in our Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation (STAR) program.
The rehab therapists at STAR work with you to tailor an exercise program to your needs. A physical conditioning program helps you stay strong, which improves your ability to keep up your daily activities without pain. STAR has an office in the same building as our pain management offices for your convenience.
Psychological therapy
About half of people with chronic pain also experience depression and anxiety. Our specialized pain psychologists screen for and manage anxiety, depression and other psychological issues as part of our holistic approach.
Psychotherapy helps you find ways to cope with pain and function better at home, work and all the activities you enjoy. We offer therapies such as:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Interventional therapies
Our pain management doctors offer minimally invasive treatments, including:
- Radiofrequency ablation, using a needle with a mild electrical current to heat a small area of nerve tissue, disrupting pain signals.
- Cooled radiofrequency ablation, which uses a water-cooled needle to treat larger areas of nerve tissue.
- Minimally invasive lumbar decompression, through a tiny incision in your back the physician will remove small pieces of bone and excess ligament that cause the narrowing of the spinal canal. Watch this video to find out how the procedure works.
- Spinal cord stimulator, a small, implanted device that sends mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord to disrupt pain signals.
- Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, minimally invasive procedures to repair a fractured vertebra by filling it with a special cement, with kyphoplasty using a balloon to restore the vertebra’s shape.
Surgery to treat underlying causes of pain
In some cases, surgery can help treat the underlying condition that is causing pain. If surgery is right for you, we coordinate your care with Washington University surgeons. Your surgery will take place at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur or Barnes-Jewish Hospital at the Washington University Medical Center in the Central West End.
Learn More About Pain Management at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital
At the Pain Management Center, we offer exceptional care for all types of chronic pain:
Office Location at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital
Pain Management Center, a member of BJC HealthCare
1044 N. Mason Road, Suite L30
Medical Office Building 4
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital is conveniently located just one mile west of I-270 in Creve Coeur, Missouri — a west county suburb of St. Louis.
Get directions and maps.
Contact Us for Pain Management
To learn more or to schedule an appointment with one of our physicians who specializes in pain management, please call 314.542.WEST (9378) or toll-free at 844.542.WEST (9378). You’ll need a referral from your physician to schedule an appointment.
Before your appointment, please download, print and fill out this new patient packet (PDF).
If you need to change or cancel your appointment, you can do so through MyChart or by calling your physician’s office directly. See our phone directory for additional phone numbers.
For Direct Patient Transfers
Referring physicians can call the BJC Transfer Center at 800.252.DOCS (3627) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also visit our referring physicians page.