Most people buy a new car knowing it’s going to need tune-ups and maintenance as it ages. Brakes, batteries, belts and bolts all will need attention as time goes by, and the same is true with our bodies.
As we age, we need to give our physical forms more TLC and more tune-ups, so to speak, to keep them running at optimum levels. In many cases, it’s our joints that need the most maintenance – to decrease the pain and keep them functioning.
That’s where Dr. Jessica Olsen, medical director at Pain Intervention Associates LLC, comes into play. “I’m really a glorified mechanic who has a toolbox full of tricks to ease your pain without addictive pill-popping or life-altering surgeries,” she said. “Isolating pain is tricky because where the pain manifests isn’t always where it originates. Our bodies are very complicated and sometimes a pain in the foot is emanating from the sciatica nerve in the back.
“Our practice is all about relieving the pain without prescribing opiates or pain pills. Of course, there are instances where they may be necessary and we can prescribe under those circumstances, but that is not the focus of our practice. The same is true with medical marijuana, which we tend to reserve for the cancer population.”
Dr. Olsen specializes in treating those among the Medicare population who are suffering from acute or chronic pain. She treats pain occurring throughout the body – in the hips, knees, shoulders, neck, head, back, arms and legs – along with other spine and joint disorders. Most soft tissue or muscle disorders are usually the result of a problem with the joint of the nerves as well, so they can also be treated conservatively. Dr. Olsen is very open to and up to date on alternative medicine approaches like massage, chiropractic and physical therapy, but also has modalities like steroid and gel injections and radiofrequency ablation.
“I rarely prescribe pain pills because the patient can develop a tolerance to the medication and actually make more receptors to pain,” Dr. Olsen explained. “They end up drowning the pain with medication. While some doctors will say the No. 1 side effect of pain pills is constipation; in reality the No. 1 side effect of excess pain medication is death.
“There are so many non-life-threatening ways to treat pain and that is my focus. My primary area of expertise is mostly in injections. The hyaluronic acid-based gel that we inject for knee pain and arthritis is actually the same stuff we use in our face for fillers. All it does is add cushion and pull water so there aren’t going to be adverse reactions. And the steroid injections we use for knee, back, shoulders and hips can offer months of pain-free living without surgery.
“Some surgeons argue that injections are simply a Band-aid and not a cure; that is true. But every once in a while, you have a cut that needs a Band-aid to help heal it. Even surgery isn’t a guaranteed cure and many patients come to me after a procedure unprepared for the pain in the aftermath and recovery. My goal is to keep you from having to undergo invasive surgery in the first place.”
One of the most common treatments Dr. Olsen administers is vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty for compression fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine, often caused by osteoporosis.
During the outpatient procedure, bone cement is inserted into the vertebra creating an internal cast that holds the bone in place while it heals. For people with disabling pain caused by the compression fracture, vertebroplasty can relieve pain, increase mobility and reduce the use of pain medication.
Kyphoplasty is similar to vertebroplasty but uses a special balloon to create spaces within the vertebra that are then filled with bone cement. Kyphoplasty can correct spinal deformity and restore lost height.
“I am not a one-treatment pony show,” Dr. Olsen said jokingly. “I don’t only do shots. I don’t only do pills. I don’t only do injections. I see what modalities we can combine and work with to take you your maximum potential. I encourage people to call me before the pain gets too severe so we can devise a plan. If you wait too long and the pain is very intense, it may be harder to control.”
Dr. Olsen is also a licensed psychiatrist and treats the mind simultaneously with the body.
“My base training is in psychiatry, and I’ve had two years in general surgery, so I treat my patients’ mental and physical health. You can’t really separate pain from the mind. Most patients who suffer with chronic pain have some degree of emotional buffering that accompanies it.
“They become exhausted, and the pain is draining them. It’s not just a shot and you get better.
“It’s educating and understanding where the pain is coming from. It’s also managing expectations about the results of whatever path we take. My ultimate goal is to help my patients make the best decisions to live their best pain free lives.”
Dr. Olsen also offers a concierge service, which has limited availability, which gives patients direct communication with her via mobile phone, text, email or video chat, same-day or next-day appointments during business hours, comprehensive office visits without time constraints, and assistance with scheduling of diagnostic imaging appointments. “These elective services require an annual fee in addition to routine office visit/procedural charges through insurance or out of pocket costs,” according to Pain Intervention Associates, LLC website: www.paininterventionassociates.com/.
Dr. Jessica Olsen completed her Doctor of Medicine at St. George’s School of Medicine, her diplomat of psychiatry and neurology at Medical College of Georgia, and her fellowship in anesthesiology and pain medicine at Medical College of Georgia. She works as a staff psychiatrist at the Mental Health Association one day a week but can be reached at Pain Intervention Associates, LLC located at 777 37th St. Suite C103, Vero Beach, Monday through Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call 772-971-6096 for an appointment.