Pain Management Clinic in Edgewood, KY.

As a neurosurgeon Dr. Tim sees firsthand how countless patients live with chronic, debilitating pain. He didn’t expect it to happen to him. Active, fit and in the prime of life, Tim began to suffer chronic neck pain which he dauntlessly slugged through. Over the course of two years, the neck pain evolved into excruciating, cervicogenic headaches. They were daily, constant and although Tim kept going in his busy professional life, he was wearing down, both physically and emotionally. “I was losing ground over time. I tried treatments that included therapy exercises, medication, traction as well as seeking the professional counsel of many of my colleagues who treat headaches. Nothing helped. I was becoming more frustrated, more emotional and the symptoms were actually progressing.”
● RELIEFAfter a year of suffering the headaches, Tim found the answer at the Advance Pain Treatment Center. Dr. Pragya Gupta determined that the perplexing headaches were caused by inflammation at the facet joints in the cervical area of the spine. He was able to treat Tim with injections that reduced the neck pain and the headaches immediately. “I wanted a clear diagnosis with a focused, treatment plan. Dr. Gupta is the best diagnostician in pain management I know. He had already shown that to me by the way he had treated the patients I referred to him.” Tim relays the story of his visit to the Center. “I drove four hours round trip to see Dr. Gupta. I asked that he give me only a local anesthetic for the injection procedure since I wanted to drive home that day.” Although it is quite common to have a sedative medication administered intravenously during this treatment, Dr. Gupta agreed to place the I.V. but not to give Tim any short acting narcotic that could keep him from driving home. “I have total confidence in Dr. Gupta. The injection was done with a local anesthetic and went very smoothly. I didn’t need the sedation even though Dr. Gupta was prepared to administer it if I did.”
● TRUSTWhy was Tim, Dr. Gupta’s patient and a neurosurgeon himself, so confident in the diagnosis and treatment plan? “Dr. Gupta is a throwback to the time when doctors listened to their patients. He makes a diagnosis based on his training, knowledge and experience. He is very adept at diagnostic testing, has phenomenal training in pain management and is a surgeon as well.” Tim continues, “Dr. Gupta gives incredible mental effort to research and diagnoses the problem before he even touches you with a procedure. He tailors the procedure to the patient and their pain and gives 110% effort to solve your problem and treat it properly. You don’t get that feeling from all doctors. It’s rare.”
● COMPASSIONAs a physician, Tim knows the desperation that a person feels living with chronic pain. A doctor can detach from the steady flow of patients living in misery, coming through the door all day long. He was inspired by Dr. Gupta’s sincerity, his compassion and his caring nature and pleasant demeanor. Tim explains, “Dr. Gupta’s biggest motivation is the well being of his patients. By the time they see him, a patient has already stumped two or more doctors. They have probably seen their family doctor, a neurologist, an orthopedist or a rehab doc. They have had all the standard tests and treatments. Yet, they still have no diagnosis, or effective treatment and they still live in pain.”
● KNOWLEDGETim attributes the accurate diagnosis as the key to getting better. “Dr. Gupta places enormous energy on the front end to research and understand the pain and its origin. His knowledge base is ultra modern and his intellectual diagnosis and surgical training make the procedures easier for him and the patient.” Tim adds, “Dr. Gupta will only do a procedure or medication if it’s consistent with the scientific literature and his experience. He offers the newest treatment and will only do things that are effective.”
● HAPPY ENDINGThe perplexing pain disorder inflicted its physical and emotional toll on Dr. Tim . But now he is back to his busy routine, treating his own patients in three different offices, performing surgery and feeling fine. He spends lots of time listening. That’s what makes a great doctor.

Alice has helped others her entire professional life. As a Social Services worker making home visits in her rural community, she fell on a nasty piece of ice and injured her knee. What happened after that began to frighten her. She was in constant, unbearable pain, the kind Alice describes as “cruel pain”. “I consider myself a pretty tough person but the pain was all day, all night and one can only take so much.” After two surgeries, nothing improved and her hope was fading.
● BARELY WALKINGHer surgeon referred Alice to Dr. Pragya Gupta for help. “I had no clue what to expect but I knew when I met him, Dr. Gupta was interested in finding the answer.” The diagnosis was a difficult thing to hear. Alice has RSD or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which is a debilitating disorder and a chronic condition thought to begin with nerve injury. The trauma from her fall had changed her life. “Dr. Gupta gave me a thorough exam. He never rushed and he was considerate when answering my questions. He recommended that I have a spinal cord stimulator implant and of course, I was worried.”
● FAITH RESTOREDThat was 10 years ago. Since then and now at the age of 71, Alice has had spinal cord stimulation implants for both legs with great success. “I have a life now. What pain I have is bearable and I don’t know what I would have done without Dr. Gupta’s help. “He went beyond his duty to get to the bottom of my problem. Even though he has many patients, he would talk with me on the phone when I called him with a question or concern.” Alice comments, “Dr. Gupta will take the time to solve the problem right away when something is wrong.” That was the case when Alice fell last year, on ice coincidentally, for a second time and complications arose. The impact of her fall had displaced the “leads” of the spinal cord stimulator. Dr. Gupta performed surgery that succeeded in restoring the placement of the leads which are the very thin cables that deliver electrical pulses to nerves near the spinal cord, relieving the pain. Alice reflected, “I am so grateful that Dr. Gupta is the type of doctor that will help anyone, anyway he can to make you better. He is sincerely interested in you.”

Hunting was Don’s passion. When an industrial accident left him with neck and back injuries, Don lost not only his favorite pastime; he lost the ability to live without searing, intense pain. With over twelve years of experience working with heavy equipment, Don suddenly succumbed to unrelenting pain in his right hip and down his leg. “I could barely walk.” The neck injury generated its own bedlam. “The constant pain in my right shoulder traveled down my arm and left my right hand numb.” He had suffered an injury that left him with crushed vertebrae and pinched nerves. Everything changed and Don was on a long road to finding relief.
● STRONGAs a proud U.S. Army retiree, he is hardly the type to complain. Don is modest and dedicated to doing the job he’s asked to do. But the accident placed him on “light duty” at work and still the agonizing pain persisted. “I saw my family doctor, a sports medicine specialist and did physical therapy with no results. Then I was referred to Dr. Gupta at the Advance Pain Treatment Center.” The relief he was looking for, came in many ways.
● SCARED“You don’t know how wonderful Dr.Gupta and his staff are until you have to undergo a procedure,” Don explains. “It’s just simply scary. They helped me to relax and I felt very confident from the first appointment. Dr. Gupta determined through a thorough examination what treatment I needed and took the time to explain how it would solve my problem. I had been to another pain management specialist and nothing compared to the results I’ve experienced in Dr.Gupta’s care.” Don’s treatment included Radiofrequency Thermal Neurotomy, an advanced procedure that involves creating discreet, thermal lesions in neural pathways in order to interrupt transmission of the pain. “I had five procedures with no difficulty, two for my back and three for my neck. Dr. Gupta has given me a good, quality life again and the care and compassion I received is more than I can explain. They were all fantastic.”
● CONFIDENCEThrough his many visits to the Advance Pain Treatment Center, Don developed a great appreciation for how responsive Dr. Gupta and his staff are. Don was scheduled for a procedure to relieve his neck pain but on that particular day, his back was causing him greater distress. “I was there for my neck procedure and Dr. Gupta examined me and decided right then that he would treat the back pain instead of my neck. Not many doctors would do that.” Don explains, “He knew exactly how to help me and didn’t hesitate. The procedure went smoothly and I felt better immediately. I have complete confidence because Dr. Gupta responded quickly to what I needed. He really listens.”
● FLOWERSDon has several U.S. Army Retired hats that he likes to sport. He left one of his favorites behind in Dr. Gupta’s office after an appointment. The next day it was at his front door, delivered personally by one of Dr. Gupta’s staff. “They are nothing short of wonderful” Don says. The next day, he returned the favor. A special bouquet awaited the front office staff that morning from a grateful patient.

As a physician, Tim sees firsthand how countless patients live with chronic, debilitating pain. He didn’t expect it to happen to him. Active, fit and in the prime of life, Tim began to suffer chronic neck pain which he dauntlessly slugged through. Over the course of two years, the neck pain evolved into excruciating, cervicogenic headaches. They were daily, constant and although Tim kept going in his busy professional life, he was wearing down, both physically and emotionally. “I was losing ground over time. I tried treatments that included therapy exercises, medication, traction as well as seeking the professional counsel of many of my colleagues who treat headaches. Nothing helped. I was becoming more frustrated, more emotional and the symptoms were actually progressing.”
● RELIEFAfter a year of suffering the headaches, Tim found the answer at the Advance Pain Treatment Center. Dr. Pragya Gupta determined that the perplexing headaches were caused by inflammation at the facet joints in the cervical area of the spine. He was able to treat Tim with injections that reduced the neck pain and the headaches immediately. “I wanted a clear diagnosis with a focused, treatment plan. Dr. Gupta is the best diagnostician in pain management I know. He had already shown that to me by the way he had treated the patients I referred to him.” Tim relays the story of his visit to the Center. “I drove four hours round trip to see Dr. Gupta. I asked that he give me only a local anesthetic for the injection procedure since I wanted to drive home that day.” Although it is quite common to have a sedative medication administered intravenously during this treatment, Dr. Gupta agreed to place the I.V. but not to give Tim any short acting narcotic that could keep him from driving home. “I have total confidence in Dr. Gupta. The injection was done with a local anesthetic and went very smoothly. I didn’t need the sedation even though Dr. Gupta was prepared to administer it if I did.”
● TRUSTWhy was Tim, Dr. Gupta’s patient and a physician himself, so confident in the diagnosis and treatment plan? “Dr. Gupta is a throwback to the time when doctors listened to their patients. He makes a diagnosis based on his training, knowledge and experience. He is very adept at diagnostic testing, has phenomenal training in pain management and is a surgeon as well.” Tim continues, “Dr. Gupta gives incredible mental effort to research and diagnoses the problem before he even touches you with a procedure. He tailors the procedure to the patient and their pain and gives 110% effort to solve your problem and treat it properly. You don’t get that feeling from all doctors. It’s rare.”
● COMPASSIONAs a physician, Tim knows the desperation that a person feels living with chronic pain. A doctor can detach from the steady flow of patients living in misery, coming through the door all day long. He was inspired by Dr. Gupta’s sincerity, his compassion and his caring nature and pleasant demeanor. Tim explains, “Dr. Gupta’s biggest motivation is the well being of his patients. By the time they see him, a patient has already stumped two or more doctors. They have probably seen their family doctor, a neurologist, an orthopedist or a rehab doc. They have had all the standard tests and treatments. Yet, they still have no diagnosis, or effective treatment and they still live in pain.”
● KNOWLEDGETim attributes the accurate diagnosis as the key to getting better. “Dr. Gupta places enormous energy on the front end to research and understand the pain and its origin. His knowledge base is ultra modern and his intellectual diagnosis and surgical training make the procedures easier for him and the patient.” Tim adds, “Dr. Gupta will only do a procedure or medication if it’s consistent with the scientific literature and his experience. He offers the newest treatment and will only do things that are effective.”
● HAPPY ENDINGThe perplexing pain disorder inflicted its physical and emotional toll on Tim. But Dr. Gupta allowed him to return to his busy routine, for which he is very grateful.

When you’re 16, you could never imagine that a fall would have life-long implications. But in Dolores’s case, that’s exactly what happened. She was on an ice skating date, when she went down hard on her coccyx, the very end of the vertebral column commonly called the tailbone. Dolores got up, brushed herself off and went on skating all evening. After a few days in pain, she realized that the injury was serious. A doctor quickly determined that she had a fracture that required surgery. So it was determined, at the young age of 16, that Dolores would have her coccyx removed.

That was 42 years ago and since then, Dolores has led a very active life in spite of chronic back pain. There have been subsequent falls which further aggravated her injury. Her pain worsened sharply during an unexpected movement she made while climbing out of a kayak. But the final strike that took the pain to an unbearable level came from dancing. “I went with a friend to a dance class. It was a fun way to exercise but obviously more than I should have done,” Dolores explains.
● DESPERATE FOR RELIEF“My back pain reached a constant, agonizing level and I was in desperate need of help.” She continues, “I couldn’t sit even for a short period of time so traveling 45 minutes to our family’s farm from our suburban home was misery. I was losing sleep, tossing and turning all night, unable to get comfortable.” Dolores suffers migraine headaches and the medication prescribed to control the back pain would trigger a migraine. “I didn’t want to believe at the age of 58, my life would be so limited,” she recalls.
● FRIENDLY ADVICEA friend recommended that Dolores see Dr. Pragya Gupta at the Advance Pain Treatment Center. “My pain was perplexing since it moved from one side to the other. It began to progress down my leg. Dr. Gupta listened carefully to my complaints and tried several injections that gave me moderate relief that would last approximately six weeks,” she said. But Dr. Gupta had been rigorously researching a new procedure from Europe that he believed would benefit Dolores. “We have relatives in Europe and I initially thought that I should travel there for this procedure. Ozone discolysis was very new but Dr. Gupta was studying the treatment with me in mind. He frequently emailed his research findings for me to investigate so I could be as informed as possible,” Dolores recalls. “I was initially skeptical simply because no one wants to be the first to undergo a procedure that’s never been tried before. But Dr. Gupta gave me so much reassurance and I trusted him so much that I decided to go ahead with the discolysis treatment.”
● INNOVATIVEDr. Gupta had gained Dolores’s confidence through his exhaustive research and collaborative nature. “I was ready to go forward and my blood work came back with a disappointing result that delayed the procedure,” Dolores explains. “Someone else went first. I was very reassured when I learned from that patient how effective the treatment was.” Dolores elaborates: “I felt that Dr. Gupta could help me more than anyone else. My results have proven this to be true. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I have no pain. It’s amazing to think how much my life had changed for the worse before he performed this innovative treatment.”
● COMPLIANT“Dr. Gupta and his staff were incredibly caring. You get a warm feeling from everyone in the office,” said Dolores. “He personally called me several times after the procedure to check on me and ask how I was feeling. I was completely compliant with their post operative orders. I took the time to rest and I attribute the great results I’ve had to this after care. I made sure that I didn’t overdo it.” Dolores explains, “Now I have my full life back. I had the discolysis procedure in July of 2009 and since then, I have resumed my full activity level. At my last follow up appointment, Dr. Gupta was amazed at my range of motion. I am pain free and I am hiking, boating and exercising again. The results are wonderful.”
● A WALK IN THE PARKDolores has always loved kids. She was a preschool director for 20 years. But her favorite little ones are her three young grandchildren. “Last weekend, my husband and I took them to the park. I asked him if he could believe that I could climb the ladder and slide down the spiral slide. I was so limited and in constant pain before the procedure. Dr. Gupta helped me regain my life. He is like a family member to me in addition to being a wonderful doctor.” Dolores adds, “I would recommend Dr. Gupta to anyone who suffers chronic back pain. It was his advice, research and expertise that gave me back the life I love.”

A lively three-year old will keep you jumping. At age 61, Janet is up to the task. She watches her grand nephew part time as a way of helping her family. She loves the pure joy of it. Not too long ago, Janet was living in chronic, debilitating pain caused by nerve damage from unsuccessful back surgeries. First treated in St. Louis, she had a disk removed to alleviate the pain in her left leg. It didn’t solve the problem. She saw a neurosurgeon in Ohio who did a stabilization procedure for her back; little changed. After that there were visits to a pain specialist who did injections along with dispensing more medication than Janet wanted to take. “I was living in constant pain for 14 years from severe nerve damage. I couldn’t do the things I loved but I just kept pushing through it.”
● PLAN OF ACTION“When I met Dr. Gupta, I can honestly say that he was the first doctor who really listened to me. He understood that my two goals were to reduce the pain and to get off all medications.” Janet continues, “He came up with a plan of action after carefully examining my history. I was impressed with how he thoroughly researched my problem and suggested a relatively new procedure tailored to me.” Dr. Gupta positions an external Ketamine Pump and stretching from the pump is a catheter which he carefully threads into the specific damaged nerve that plagues Janet. Worn over a period of days, the pump dispenses a combination of ketamine and other medicine deep into the nerve. The goal is to keep Janet pain free for several months, then repeat the procedure until she can go a year without pain, all the while reducing the medication that she is taking.
● FUTURE OF HOPE“On a scale of 10, my pain level dropped from 9.5 to 1.5. This has given me back my life,” Janet exclaims. “Many doctors don’t take the time or effort to help you the way Dr. Gupta did. He is very intelligent and caring. He worked with my insurance company for approval of the procedure. I also felt that I had all the time I needed to talk to him. Again, he listens and he never gave up on me.” Janet goes on to say, “Constant pain is depressing. It can change your whole personality. Other doctors told me that there was nothing else they could do. When you find someone who listens, that alone gives you hope.”
● NORMAL ACTIVITIESJanet was always moving. Sitting, walking and standing for long were all just too painful. “Since the ketamine infusion, I’m back working in my garden. I have much more energy since I don’t take the prescription drugs that made me too tired.” She is also an avid wii tennis player. Her family holds frequent tournaments. “I’m not always winning but I’m back playing my 8 year old grand nephew,” Janet reports. The leg pain has dramatically improved so that she can be found walking a flea market in search of an antique treasure. Janet can enjoy all of these pleasures and hobbies again since the infusion treatment.
● TRUST“Over 14 years, I ended up in the Emergency Room many times,” Janet laments. “They generally just give you heavier medication for the pain and it never resolves the problem. I have seen many doctors but since I’ve seen Dr. Gupta, I haven’t returned to the ER, I take less medication and in a lower dose.” Janet concludes, “The infusion procedure helped more than any treatment I tried over the many years that I suffered. I feel that I am on the path to being drug free. It’s a process and it’s working. I have so much trust in Dr. Gupta and his wonderful staff.”
● FROGS AND SNAILS AND PUPPY DOGS' TALESJanet is retired now after her rewarding career as an interpreter for hearing impaired students. She has a deep appreciation for Dr.Gupta’s kindness, respect and particularly, his exceptional ability to listen. Her life is full and her days are busy. Her favorite three-year old is a bundle of energy and she knows what little boys are made of: love.