There are many types of pain that can results from strokes. Many times these stroke pains are overlooked or under treated. At the St. Louis Spine and Joint Pain Specialists, our pain management doctors have extensive experience working with stroke rehabilitation and stroke pain management. Common types of pain related to strokes that we specialize in treating include:

• Shoulder subluxation

  • Wea​k muscles that cause part of the shoulder to separate

• Tendinitis

• Brachial plexus injuries

  • Stretching or injury to nerves that control the arm​

• Post stroke myofascial pain

  • Muscle spasms or irritation​

• Heterotopic ossification

  • Abnormal bone growth around normal bone​

• Spasticity

• Tendinitis

• Shoulder impingement syndrome

• Adhesive capsulitis

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What type of risk factors increase your chances of stroke?

• Male gender

• Age > 55 years old

• Strokes in other family members

• High blood pressure

• Irregular heart beat known as atrial fibrillation 

• Diabetes

• Cigarette smoking

• Carotid artery blockage

• Diseases that cause blood clots

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How can our St. Louis pain doctors help diagnose your post stroke pain?

• Thorough history and physical exam can provide the majority of the information your pain management doctor needs to make an accurate diagnosis. 

• A neurological exam can assist in distinguishing between different types of nerves that can be affected

• Imaging such as Xrays, MRI and CT scans to look at the nerves, muscle and bone 

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What are your treatment options?

Our pain management physicians specialize in providing comprehensive quality treatment for stroke pain. We provide a combination of therapeutic pain management and medical pain management such as:

• Botox injections

  • Spasticity treatment​

• Injections and Nerve blocks​

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs)

• Anticonvulsants​

• Opioid medications​

  • When used appropriately, studies have shown that the risk of addiction is extremely low

• Skin creams, ointments and patches

• Anti-depressants

• Electrical Stimulation

• TENS

• Physical therapy

 

What can you do to avoid or decrease stroke pain?

• Keep swelling down in affected arms or legs with compression garments 

• Monitor and control your blood sugar and high blood pressure to prevent more complications

• Stretch and move weak muscles and joints

  • Prevents the muscles from becoming more weak or the joints from becoming too stiff that you cannot move them​

• Stop smoking

• Good nutrition and diet

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For more information or to discuss an appropriate treatment plan for your stroke pain with one of our specialized pain management physicians, call Saint Louis Spine and Joint Pain Specialists today.

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