Ketamine Infusions for Pain Relief
Ketamine infusions are typically recommended when other treatment modalities for chronic pain have not been effective. Ketamine has been used for five decades as an anesthetic. More recently, mental health care providers found that it can successfully treat some types of treatment-resistant depression. Pain researchers have learned that it delivers welcome relief for some types of chronic pain. Over the last 10 years the use of ketamine for pain has exploded. Caliber Pain™ offers ketamine infusions for pain relief at our clinic in NYC.
How Ketamine Works to Reduce Pain
Ketamine works by blocking certain pain receptors in the brain and resetting the signaling of some nerve cells in your spine and brain. In sub-anesthetic doses, ketamine acts as an NMDA receptor block, which is significant in the treatment of chronic pain. By blocking the NMDA receptor in the spine’s dorsal horn, pain signal transmission is interrupted, giving central pain centers a chance to “reboot.”
Certain types of pain considered to be “neuropathic” in origin are most responsive to ketamine therapy. However, other types of chronic pain, such as chronic temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) pain, some headaches and musculoskeletal pain, may also benefit from ketamine infusions. The list of chronic pain syndromes that benefit from ketamine therapy continues to grow.
Conditions that ketamine infusion may be indicated for include:
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Migraine aura
- Some types of headache
- Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
There are no long-term side effects associated with ketamine in low doses that are used to treat chronic pain. There is no chance of addiction to ketamine.
Patients who have success with ketamine infusions benefit because pain relief can last much longer- than with some other types of treatment. You may feel better for days, weeks or even months.
To learn more about ketamine infusions for pain therapy, contact our team at Caliber Pain™ in Midtown Manhattan.