Welcoming. Comfortable. Warm. Inviting. Caring. Family. These are words people use to describe the atmosphere at Pain Relief Partners, which may be surprising for a pain management clinic. Nurse Practitioner and Clinic Owner Stephanie Jones is delighted that this is how patients feel when they come in for treatment. “It has always been my goal to offer hope for healing and help patients feel understood and cared for while they are with us,” says Jones. How do they do it? Stephanie says it is about her team. “We are five people who care deeply about our patients and want the very best for them. We believe the clinic environment is part of the healing process for our patients, and we work together to help our patients be able to participate in life again. It brings us all great joy to see a patient do something they thought was part of their past. It is wonderful for us to see them realize it can be a part of their future, too.”
The team consists of Jones, Chiropractor Dr. Tom Kessinger, Clinic Manager Amber, Medical Assistant Raychel, and Patient Service Assistant Jessie. Stephanie performs all of the injection therapy and Dr. Kessinger treats patients using the Zone Technique to assess which parts of the spine need treatment to allow the nervous system to communicate effectively with the body. Jones notes “We have seen great results with Zone chiropractic. Dr. Kessinger is always researching to further his knowledge so he can offer the best to our patients.” Other than Dr. Kessinger, the closest chiropractors using this technique are in Eugene and Yakima.
As a nurse practitioner, Jones has full autonomy in the state of Washington. She practices independently and can diagnose, treat, refer, and prescribe, though she does not prescribe any medications at the clinic. “There is an opiate epidemic in our state, in our country,” says Jones. “We are working with our patients and with other providers in the community to provide pain relief without the use of narcotics or other prescription medications. We use patient history, exam, and imaging to determine the cause of the patient’s symptoms and treat the underlying issue rather than just treating the symptoms.” Jones uses many injection techniques that are covered by most major insurances, including trigger point injections that are used to treat muscle knots and tension to relieve symptoms of burning, tightness, aching, headaches, tingling in the extremities, and shooting pain. “We have helped so many patients who have had pain for years. We have treated patients with a 20 or even 50 year history of neck, back, hip, leg, or shoulder pain, and within 1-5 treatments, they are often reporting 50% or more relief of pain.” In addition to trigger point injections, Jones treats neuropathy, nerve pain, and joint pain with insurance covered therapies. “These are conditions that patients have been told they have to learn to live with, and we don’t find that acceptable. If we can’t help you in our clinic, we will refer you to someone who we think may be able to help you. Often we are collaborating with other providers, such as physical therapists, to help the patient feel better faster.”
The clinic also offers several therapies that are not covered by insurance. Jones reports that the most successful of these therapies is Regenerative Medicine. “In May we got the news that we were approved to use Signature Cord, a product harvested and processed by Dr. Neil Riordan’s lab in Texas. He is a pioneer in Regenerative Medicine, so to get to use his product to treat our patients is an honor. We have seen outstanding results for our patients with this tissue.” Jones says that the product contains mesenchymal stem cells, hyaluronic acid, growth factors, cytokines, and more, and is obtained from donated umbilical cords that are collected after a live, healthy, human cesarean delivery. “We use this tissue to help cushion, repair, and supplement the cells or tissues of the person receiving the therapy. We have helped patients with several conditions that were considered to be surgical cases or conditions that could only be treated by medication.”