Living with a chronic condition, either physical or mental, takes unique strength. Each day, you may be coping with symptoms of pain related to a physical condition, or digging yourself out from under feelings of depression or even despair.
You keep going, taking each day as it comes. But could ketamine therapy help to lessen your load?
Ketamine infusion therapy shows promise as a treatment for several types of chronic conditions, including chronic pain, severe depression, PTSD, and anxiety. You can trust the expertise of the care team at Alpenglow Pain & Wellness of Anchorage, Alaska, to apply the best tools and therapies for the treatment of your chronic condition. One of these approaches is ketamine infusion therapy.
Under the leadership of board-certified interventional pain management physician Nichelle C. Renk, MD, we're always looking for new and effective solutions for chronic pain and mental health conditions. We can help you determine if ketamine infusion therapy could be right for you.
Ketamine has historically been used as an anesthetic. In low doses, it can also relieve chronic pain and symptoms of depression, potentially for long periods of time. Because the effects of ketamine can be extremely potent, you should only use ketamine under direct medical supervision.
We know ketamine as a dissociative anesthetic, meaning it distances you from your physical sense of perception. The drug selectively targets specific chemical receptors in your brain including the NMDA receptor which is closely tied to chronic pain.
Ketamine blocks some of the electrical activity going toward your brain, preventing pain signals from registering in your mind and body. When using ketamine safely, you feel relaxed and experience significant relief in pain, headache, depression, and anxiety.
When you come in for treatment, Dr. Renk and her team uses an IV cannula to deliver a calibrated, safe dose of ketamine. You rest comfortably while the quick-acting dose takes effect. Ketamine can be habit-forming, so Dr. Renk's professional knowledge is key to safe usage. She can recommend the right dosage and treatment schedule to prevent this problem.
As we've come to understand more about the potential applications of ketamine therapy, more and more patients are able to benefit from ketamine's neurological effects. You might experience positive effects from ketamine infusion therapy if you have:
The interruption of pain signals after treatment allows your symptoms to abate, so your body can recover. Often, an interval of rest and freedom from symptoms can help you get over the worst of an attack of pain or depression.
Ketamine can sometimes help with cases of depression that have stubbornly resisted other types of treatment, although individual results may vary.
To find out if you could be a candidate for ketamine infusion therapy, get in touch with Dr. Renk at our office in Anchorage, Alaska, today. Call us at 907-313-2976, or you can send a message to Dr. Renk and the team here on our website.
