Interventional pain care now available at NBHH

If you have long-term, chronic pain of any kind, like chronic nerve or arthritic pain, ask your provider if a referral to James Ellis, CRNA, NSPM-C would be appropriate. 

Ellis specializes in managing long-term, chronic pain using non-surgical options and without the use of narcotics. Ellis joined the staff at North Big Horn Hospital earlier this year in March as an anesthetist assisting staff surgeon Dr. Michael Hill and as a pain specialist helping patients in need of interventional care of chronic pain.

Previously, the hospital contracted out these services to an outside vendor. With the addition of Ellis to the team, these services can be provided on a regular basis through the hospital.

Patients are generally referred to Ellis from another provider. For example, if a patient is seeing an orthopedic surgeon for chronic joint pain and there isn’t a surgical solution, that provider might recommend the patient to Ellis for long-term interventional care. It’s best to get a referral from a provider to see Ellis, but it is possible to make an appointment directly in cases where a patient has been dealing with a problem on their own for a long time.

“It helps having one person lay eyes on the patient in this situation, because when you talk to two different people you typically get three different answers,” explained Ellis. 

He said a lot of pain management is “trial and error,” literally trying different methods to find what works best for the patient.

Ellis offers solutions including non-surgical options and options that do not involve narcotics. A patient requiring medication will still need to see their provider.

“Pain is a broad word, and it’s different for different people,” explained Ellis. “It’s not like the Eskimos, who have 800 words for snow. There’s only one word for pain, and it has a different meaning for different people.”

Ellis typically helps people with joint pain involving the major joints, like knees, hips, shoulder, back pain and some headache pain, but not necessarily migraines.

In some cases, Ellis refers a patient to another provider or specialist, especially if he finds there is a better way to manage the situation outside of the services he provides.

“This is a little bit more personalized service, because you’re only seeing one person,” explained NBHH CEO Eric Connell. “James can provide injections, nerve blocks and radio frequency ablations. This is a way to avoid using narcotics, which can cause harm with long term use. For example, if you’re able to ablate a nerve that’s causing back pain, you can oftentimes avoid having to take medication for that pain. The purpose is to give people more long-term relief without the use of opioids.”