Blog Archive

Why Is PRP Becoming So Popular? Mar 1st, 2024

For years, medical researchers have been excited about the promise of regenerative medicine. Essentially, this medical field unlocks new treatments that leverage our body’s own healing capability.  In recent years, regenerative medicine has yielded one particularly exciting solution to a variety of health woes. It’s called platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and...

What Are My Treatment Options for Arthritis? Jan 31st, 2024

Arthritis can take a lot of different forms, but at the end of the day, it means one thing: joint inflammation that causes you pain. Whether you’re dealing with arthritis in one of your body’s larger joints — like your hip — or the smaller joints in your hands, the discomfort can...

What Is Diabetic Neuropathy? Jan 12th, 2024

After a diabetes diagnosis, most people make some changes. You might adjust your diet and try to get more exercise, for example. But you can’t stop there.  Because diabetes can cause complications, you need to be on the lookout for other issues. For example, about half of everyone with diabetes...

Do I Need Surgery for My Sciatica? Dec 14th, 2023

Sciatica — a condition that develops when your sciatic nerve gets pinched — can make everyday life difficult. Moving becomes painful, and you might have other bothersome sensations, like pins and needles or weakness in the affected leg. You don’t want to live this way. Fortunately, here at Hawai’i Pain...

The Most Commonly Overlooked Migraine Triggers Nov 3rd, 2023

A migraine can strike seemingly out of nowhere. But oftentimes, if you start paying attention to what precedes that splitting headache, you’ll find that one or several triggers were in play.  Once you figure out what triggers your migraines, you can prevent future ones. So if you frequently suffer from...

What No One Told You About Fibromyalgia Oct 1st, 2023

Fibromyalgia can feel mysterious. We still don’t know the precise cause of this condition, and symptoms often vary from person to person. Ultimately, as you try to learn more about fibromyalgia, you might end up with just as many questions as answers.  That’s where we come in. As a pain management specialist...

How Pregnancy and Childbirth Impact Your Joint Health Aug 31st, 2023

From morning sickness to fatigue, pregnancy can bring a lot of unwelcome side effects. People often joke about some of them — like the food cravings or growing feet — but other impacts probably don’t feel very funny when you’re living with them. Take joint pain as an example.  You probably...

Is It Safe to Work Out With Spinal Cord Stimulation? Aug 1st, 2023

You might feel like you’ve tried just about everything for your back pain. If it hasn’t responded to lifestyle changes, medication, and injection-based treatment, you fortunately still have choices to explore.  Specifically, with spinal cord stimulation, Dr. Jonathan D. Carlson can implant a small device that interrupts the pain signals coming from your...

3 Habits That Can Worsen Hip Pain Jul 1st, 2023

Since your hip is the biggest joint in your body, it’s especially bothersome when it has pain. Hip discomfort might have you giving up things you used to enjoy or avoiding even simple activities like getting up to get a glass of water.  Fortunately, at Hawai’i Pain and Spine on the Windward...

4 Overlooked Causes of Pelvic Pain Jun 1st, 2023

Pelvic pain can turn your life upside down. You want — and deserve — relief.  To a large extent, finding that relief means finding out what’s causing your pelvic pain. That way, your doctor can tailor a care plan to address the root cause of your discomfort rather than merely masking...

Why Is Fibromyalgia More Common in Women? May 1st, 2023

Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain and a range of other unwelcome symptoms, like brain fog and sleep troubles. Medical experts think this comes from oversensitivity in the nerves that send pain signals to your brain, but they still haven’t uncovered the reason for that hypersensitivity. That doesn’t mean fibromyalgia is a...

The Link Between Neck Pain and Migraines Mar 31st, 2023

Migraines can be tricky to figure out. They can come from a variety of causes — from stress and poor sleep to certain medications — and often bring a wide range of symptoms. As a result, if you have another symptom you commonly feel with your migraine, like neck pain,...

How to Relieve Knee Pain Without Surgery Mar 9th, 2023

Not only is your knee the biggest joint in your body, but it’s also one of the most complex. All of the components — your bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage — have to work together to provide you with pain-free mobility.  As with any system, things can go wrong. Maybe...

Four Types of Chronic Pain That Kyphoplasty Can Address Feb 12th, 2023

You don’t want to fracture any bone in your body, but it’s especially problematic when the fracture develops in one of the bones in your spine. Suddenly, doing even the most mundane activities can feel excruciating.  You don’t even need to experience an acute back injury to find yourself in...

Early Signs of Neuropathy That Are Easy to Miss Jan 13th, 2023

Your nerves serve as your body’s communication network. When they’re working properly, they keep you safe. You quickly recoil when touching an overly hot surface, for example, because your nerves rapidly alert your brain to the danger. When you have neuropathy, though, this communication network breaks down. A peripheral neuropathy...

When to Consider the Vertiflex™ Procedure for Spinal Stenosis Dec 7th, 2022

Your spine relies on a canal to keep all of the nerves there from getting pinched. Unfortunately, anything from osteoarthritis to thickened ligaments can cause that canal to narrow. When it does, you get a whole host of unwelcome symptoms — and a spinal stenosis diagnosis.  In fact, if you’ve...

I'm Nervous About Getting an Epidural Nov 2nd, 2022

If you live with pain that radiates from your back to other parts of your body, a targeted treatment could bring you fast relief. With an epidural injection, you get a way to treat inflammation and ease pain. That said, the nervousness that can come with getting this injection might...

How Your Own Blood Plasma and Platelets Can Alleviate Your Pain Oct 10th, 2022

You’ve probably marveled at your body’s healing capability. A giant scrape on your knee becomes a barely noticeable scar over the years. A sprained ankle that couldn’t bear any weight a week okay feels fine now. A headache vanishes after a good night’s sleep. Clearly, your body knows what it’s...

10 Possible Reasons for Your Hip Pain Sep 1st, 2022

When most people think about their joints, their minds go to the highly visible ones like the knees or the joints in the hands. While your hip joints might not get as much attention, they play a huge role. In fact, they matter not just for your mobility, but for...

Is Working From Home a Pain In Your Neck? Aug 2nd, 2022

One of the most sweeping changes in the last couple of years shaped not how we work, but where we work. Even today, as workplaces reopen, nearly 60% of Americans who say they can do their job from home are skipping the office. What’s more, the majority report that they’re working from home by choice.  If...

What to Expect After a PRP Session Jul 3rd, 2022

Our bodies have a pretty remarkable innate healing power. You’ve probably marveled as a cut has healed or been relieved as your body repairs a strained muscle. You’re not alone in that. Medical researchers increasingly look to our own healing capabilities to drive better outcomes. You can see evidence of...

How Botox Can Help Your Chronic Migraines Jun 3rd, 2022

It’s all too common for people who don’t get migraines to think of them as just another headache. But if you live with migraines, you know that they’re so much more. The frequent, intense pain disrupts your days and gets in the way of work, relationships, and hobbies. Fortunately, it...

What to Expect During Your Spinal Stimulator Trial Run May 5th, 2022

Your back pain could stem from any number of issues. Fortunately, while there are seemingly countless causes of back pain, you also have access to a wide range of treatment options.  The trick is to find the right solution for the cause of your specific back pain and the symptoms...

How to Improve Your Sciatica With Exercising and Stretching Apr 11th, 2022

Sciatica causes radiating pain along your buttocks or down one leg because of pressure on your sciatic nerve. That pain traveling down your leg can interfere with your quality of life, causing discomfort when you move, pins and needles, or numbness.  Fortunately, getting relief from your symptoms doesn’t always have...

The Link Between Hormonal Disorders and Neuropathy Mar 14th, 2022

Neuropathy often feels mysterious. You’re suddenly dealing with persistent pins and needles or unexplained numbness. Something burns or feels extra sensitive and you don’t know why. If these symptoms sound familiar, you might be living with neuropathy. You develop neuropathy when something adversely affects your nerves. Anything from pressure from...

The Many Benefits of PRP Therapy Feb 13th, 2022

If you have an injury that isn’t healing the way it should or chronic pain that you just can’t seem to kick, regenerative medicine can help. Treatments within this specialty focus on harnessing your body’s natural healing power to get the outcome you want: less pain faster.  Medical professionals today...

Understanding a Trial Run With a Spinal Cord Stimulator Jan 11th, 2022

Since back pain is so common — affecting roughly 80% of people at some point during their lives — it’s no surprise that doctors and medical researchers have closely studied its causes. While some back pain stems from an obvious and treatable cause, like disc herniation, other back pain can...

Why a Migraine Isn't Just a Headache Dec 13th, 2021

Virtually everyone will deal with a headache at some point in their lives. But a migraine is something entirely different. While some people use the terms headache and migraine interchangeably, they’re actually very different.  Fortunately, if you deal with head pain so severe that it grinds your day to a...

What's Causing My Neuropathy? Nov 11th, 2021

When you experience a sensation like tingling or burning, you want to be able to trace it back to a cause. You might have “pins and needles” because your leg fell asleep after sitting in one position for too long, for example. But if you have sensations that you can’t...

Understanding the Different Treatments for Your Chronic Joint Pain Oct 12th, 2021

Lasting joint pain gets in the way. Whether you deal with shoulder pain that makes it hard to put groceries away or knee pain that makes walking uncomfortable, you’ve probably already tried changing your habits to decrease your pain. But all too often, untreated joint pain will only limit you...

What PRP Can Do for Your Injury Sep 15th, 2021

Medical experts have long marveled at our bodies’ innate healing power. And while many researchers have looked for ways to replicate that with exterior processes or synthetic ingredients, science has shown that one of the best ways to heal an injury already lies within us. By using platelet-rich plasma (PRP),...

How an Epidural Can Reduce or Eliminate Your Pain Aug 16th, 2021

Countless things can cause back pain, but you also have nearly countless options for treating it. Somewhere between basic over-the-counter pain medication and invasive procedures lies nerve-blocking options like an epidural. Dr. Jonathan D. Carlson offers epidurals to our patients at Hawai’i Pain and Spine, on the Windward side of...

Could Your Chronic Pain Be Fibromyalgia? Jul 14th, 2021

Living with pain is always frustrating, but that’s especially true when you don’t know what’s causing your discomfort. Widespread, unexplained discomfort might feel mysterious and disheartening, but there could be a medical explanation for it. It could be fibromyalgia. Here at Hawai’i Pain and Spine, on the Windward side of...

The Stages of a Migraine Jun 29th, 2021

If you get migraines, you know that the pain you feel shifts throughout the attack. You may have even noticed certain warning signs that your next migraine attack is imminent. Better understanding those signs can help you manage your migraines — and so can proper treatment. At Hawai’i Pain and...

The Best Treatment Options for Neuropathy May 27th, 2021

Since roughly one in four Americans will live with neuropathy at some point during their lives, it’s no surprise that researchers and medical practitioners have extensively sought effective treatments. And fortunately, they’ve found success with many of them. Even so, the problem is that because neuropathy can have so many...

When to Consider a Spinal Cord Stimulator for Your Chronic Back Pain Apr 28th, 2021

Coping with chronic back pain can completely rearrange your life and its priorities. You can be caught between the needs and burdens of pain management. Medication-based therapies work best over the short term, and you face drug resistance and addiction when trying to manage long-lasting pain, particularly when other, conservative...