General Practitioners

• Fibromyalgia
  I wanted to take a moment to praise Dr. Glaser, Maria (nurse practitioner) and the entire staff. When I was first referred to Dr. Glaser, I was experiencing severe pain from Fibromyalgia and he found that I had bursas in both shoulders. I could not lift my arms above my waist and was in chronic pain all the time.  After treatment and pain medication, I am now able to lift my arms over my head and my pain is managed. During the pandemic when appointments were difficult (to say the least), Dr. Glaser and Maria held virtual visits with me so that they were able to keep my treatment consistent. But, to me the most important thing about Dr. Glaser and his staff is that I know they really care. They are kind, compassionate and let you know that they want to do whatever is necessary to help you. They take the time you need to go over how you're feeling and they try different treatments and various medications until they hit on the right combination that works for the individual. I highly recommend Dr. Glaser and the Pain Specialists of Great Chicago!
• Primary Care
  For the physicians at Pain Specialists of Great Chicago, speed has always been important – as we know it is critical to treat pain in the acute stage before it becomes chronic. New CDC guidelines underscore our efforts, requiring that primary care and/or emergency physicians prescribe no more than three days of opioids for acute pain. These guidelines were developed to curb overuse and abuse, but could result in an increase in emergency and acute care visits if patients run out of opioids prior to being seen by a pain management specialist. That means, we have 72 hours to see a patient and develop a care plan aimed at controlling or eliminating their pain.
• Emergency Care
  RESULTS: 1) There is good evidence that non-medical use of opioids is extensive; one-third of chronic pain patients may not use prescribed opioids as prescribed or may abuse them, and illicit drug use is significantly higher in these patients. 2) There is good evidence that opioid prescriptions are increasing rapidly, as the majority of prescriptions are from non-pain physicians, many patients are on long-acting opioids, and many patients are provided with combinations of long-acting and short-acting opioids. 3) There is good evidence that the increased supply of opioids, use of high dose opioids, doctor shoppers, and patients with multiple comorbid factors contribute to the majority of the fatalities. 4) There is fair evidence that long-acting opioids and a combination of long-acting and short-acting opioids contribute to increasing fatalities and that even low-doses of 40 mg or 50 mg of daily morphine equivalent doses may be responsible for emergency room admissions with overdoses and deaths. 5) There is good evidence that approximately 60% of fatalities originate from opioids prescribed within the guidelines, with approximately 40% of fatalities occurring in 10% of drug abusers. 6) The short-term effectiveness of opioids is fair, whereas the long-term effectiveness of opioids is limited due to a lack of long-term (> 3 months) high quality studies, with fair evidence with no significant difference between long-acting and short-acting opioids. 7) Among the individual drugs, most opioids have fair evidence for short-term and limited evidence for long-term due to a lack of quality studies. 8) The evidence for the effectiveness and safety of chronic opioid therapy in the elderly for chronic non-cancer pain is fair for short-term and limited for long-term due to lack of high quality studies; limited in children and adolescents and patients with comorbid psychological disorders due to lack of quality studies; and the evidence is poor in pregnant women. 9) There is limited evidence for reliability and accuracy of screening tests for opioid abuse due to lack of high quality studies. 10) There is fair evidence to support the identification of patients who are non-compliant or abusing prescription drugs or illicit drugs through urine drug testing and prescription drug monitoring programs, both of which can reduce prescription drug abuse or doctor shopping.
• Constipation
• Electrocardiogram
  RESULTS: Part 2 of the guidelines on responsible opioid prescribing provides the following recommendations for initiating and maintaining chronic opioid therapy of 90 days or longer. 1. A) Comprehensive assessment and documentation is recommended before initiating opioid therapy, including documentation of comprehensive history, general medical condition, psychosocial history, psychiatric status, and substance use history. (Evidence: good) B) Despite limited evidence for reliability and accuracy, screening for opioid use is recommended, as it will identify opioid abusers and reduce opioid abuse. (Evidence: limited) C) Prescription monitoring programs must be implemented, as they provide data on patterns of prescription usage, reduce prescription drug abuse or doctor shopping. (Evidence: good to fair) D) Urine drug testing (UDT) must be implemented from initiation along with subsequent adherence monitoring to decrease prescription drug abuse or illicit drug use when patients are in chronic pain management therapy. (Evidence: good) 2. A) Establish appropriate physical diagnosis and psychological diagnosis if available prior to initiating opioid therapy. (Evidence: good) B) Caution must be exercised in ordering various imaging and other evaluations, interpretation and communication with the patient, to avoid increased fear, activity restriction, requests for increased opioids, and maladaptive behaviors. (Evidence: good) C) Stratify patients into one of the 3 risk categories – low, medium, or high risk. D) A pain management consultation, may assist non-pain physicians, if high-dose opioid therapy is utilized. (Evidence: fair) 3. Essential to establish medical necessity prior to initiation or maintenance of opioid therapy. (Evidence: good) 4. Establish treatment goals of opioid therapy with regard to pain relief and improvement in function. (Evidence: good) 5. A) Long-acting opioids in high doses are recommended only in specific circumstances with severe intractable pain that is not amenable to short-acting or moderate doses of long-acting opioids, as there is no significant difference between long-acting and short-acting opioids for their effectiveness or adverse effects. (Evidence: fair) B) The relative and absolute contraindications to opioid use in chronic non-cancer pain must be evaluated including respiratory instability, acute psychiatric instability, uncontrolled suicide risk, active or history of alcohol or substance abuse, confirmed allergy to opioid agents, coadministration of drugs capable of inducing life-limiting drug interaction, concomitant use of benzodiazepines, active diversion of controlled substances, and concomitant use of heavy doses of central nervous system depressants. (Evidence: fair to limited) 6. A robust agreement which is followed by all parties is essential in initiating and maintaining opioid therapy as such agreements reduce overuse, misuse, abuse, and diversion. (Evidence: fair) 7. A) Once medical necessity is esta

Psychiatrists

• Depression
• Mental Health
  The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers is now the second-most prevalent form of illicit drug use in America and its tragic consequences are seen in substance abuse treatment centers and hospital emergency departments throughout our nation, says Pamela Hyde, administrator of The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in a statement.

Radiologist

• Ultrasound
  Business ​of ​Pain ​Medicine, ​Spinal ​Injections ​and ​Complications, ​Neuromodulation, ​Opioids, ​Advanced ​Techniques, ​Medical ​Marijuana, ​Practice ​Management, ​Regenerative ​Medicine, ​and ​Hands-on ​Ultrasound ​Workshop
• MRI
  The field of interventional pain management has evolved substantially over the past decade. This is primarily due to the increased ability of physicians who specialize in interventional pain management to pinpoint the cause of spinal pain through the use of MRI’s and the performance of diagnostic injections and nerve blocks. This has expanded the ability of interventional pain physicians to safely and effectively treat lower back and neck pain with minimally invasive procedures. Some of the more common treatments performed by the doctors at the Pain Specialists of Greater Chicago are listed to the left of this page.
• Radiology
  Dr. Glaser, president ISIPP, presided over the 2nd annual Illinois Society of Interventional Pain Physicians meeting held on January 19th which was a rousing success. 60 ISIPP members enjoyed good food and camaraderie at Harry Caray’s restaurant in downtown Chicago on a cold winter evening. They were treated to provocative and informative lectures by Dr. Gabor Racz and Dr. Joseph Fortin. Dr. Racz presented his thoughts on reducing the risks of interventional treatment, specifically interlaminar and transformational injections as well as epidural adhesiolysis procedures. The attendees were riveted by Dr. Racz as he recounted complications of interventional treatment that he was aware of. Dr. Fortin gave a well received lecture on biomechanics of the lumbar spine with an impressive audiovisual presentation. The audience gained an appreciation of the causes of injury to the spine well as the logic behind the rehabilitative process. The audience was truly multispecialty in nature comprised of physicians from a physiatric and anesthesiology background, nurses, physician assistants, radiology technicians, and physical therapists.
• Computed Tomography
  STUDY DESIGN: Eighteen cases of paralysis from transforaminal epidural injection have been reported. We could analyze the position of the needle within the neural foramen based on the available images and/or description among 10 of these 18 cases. Five cases were performed with computed tomography guidance and 12 cases were performed with fluoroscopic guidance unknown in one case. Additionally, other variables associated with the procedure, including the technique, were also examined.

Surgeons

• Orthopedics
  Tia Hanke, APRN Tia Hanke is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) since 2019. Throughout her nursing career, she has worked in the ED, ICU, and orthopedics. She worked as an Emergency Nurse at St. Francis Hospital for 5 years before beginning her career as a Nurse Practitioner. As a Nurse Practitioner, […]
• Sciatica
  The most common pain complaints encountered are related to the spine. The sources of spinal pain are now well known through the research of the last few decades. The spinal canal is formed by individual bones called vertebra. These vertebra protect the spinal cord and the nerves that exit the spinal cord through openings between the vertebra. These vertebra articulate, or meet, eachother at three distinct joints which allow movement. The disc joints are found just in front of the spinal cord and the paired facet joints are found behind the spinal cord. It is these joints which are subjected to constant wear and tear, stress and strain, with daily living and which are effected by the normal aging changes associated with all joints (degenerative osteoarthritis). These are joints which can become injured or inflamed and which can cause chronic pain. Derangements of these joints can also cause pressure or inflammation of the spinal cord or exiting nerves causing extremity pain as well (often called sciatica in the leg).
• Whiplash
  Intra-articular Facet Injections are fluoroscopically directed injections of local anesthetic and depot steroid into the facet joints suspected to be a source of spinal pain. In the lower back, this type of pain is most frequently related to degenerative disc disease which places increased stress on the facet joints. In the neck, it is the most common cause of pain following a whiplash type of injury. Pain secondary to the facets may also be a consequence of synovial tears, cysts, hematomas, subluxations, spinal instability, spondylolisthesis, and vertebral compression fractures. The purpose of the injection is two-fold. The relief of pain by the local anesthetic is important diagnostic information for the pain physician, allowing them to define and more effectively treat spinal pain. The steroid can provide long term relief of symptoms in many cases of pain related to disorders of the facet joint. Further treatment is guided by the response of the patient to both the local anesthetic and the steroid.

Dermatologists

• Cyst

Physical Therapists

• Physical Therapy
  Patients like D’Alise have typically tried several interventions include ibuprofen, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes before resorting to the injections. D’Alise says his condition makes commuting to work, riding a train, and sitting for long periods incredibly difficult. He received his last shot in 2011 but the relief only lasted for six months. He says the pain has returned to a “7” on a scale of one to 10.
• Neck Pain
• Back Pain