Any PNE specialists in AL, FL, GA or La?

[gwynnsh]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone know of any PN specialists located on the Gulf Coast region? I live in South Alabama, so I'm not too far away from Atlanta, Florida or Louisiana. I see that Dr. Ansell is in Houston, Tx but he apparently isn't taking any more patients. I really need to see someone that's familiar with treating this type of condition. There area couple of pain clinics a few hours away but I'm just not sure how much they've dealt with pudendal nerve problems. The absolute last thing I want is surgery (already had about 10 throughout the years for other issues) but I'd be willing to move forward with the proper diagnosis from a well known doctor in this field. However, I want to exhaust all options before I get to that point.

Thanks!

Hunter

[gwynnsh]

Hard to believe there's no one available.

[JeanieC]

The closest actual PN specialists are in Houston. Although Dr Renney and Ansell no longer take new patients, Dr Charles Popeney who is a neurologist still does and he can send you to a group of neuroradiologists who do PN blocks under CT guidance.
I also live in south AL and I can tell you about the pain specialists in the Mobile and Eastern shore area if this would be helpful.

[gwynnsh]

Hello Jeanie,

I've heard of Dr. Yearwood in Daphne & Dr. McAlister in Fairhope through doing my own research. Are you familiar with either of them? There's also "The Andrews Institute" in Gulf Breeze, Fl that supposedly treats nerve entrapments and "Alabama Pain Physicians" in Birmingham, Al. I just want to find someone that has a lot of experience/success treating this awful condition. I'm in the process of getting an MRN set up in Birmingham very soon & I hope I can at least figure out what's going on with the scan. I haven't heard of Dr. Popeney but I know there's a Daniel Kim in Houston that also treats PNE. Please let me know if you've had any success with any doctors in this area or if you can recommend anyone. Thanks!

[JeanieC]

Hello Hunter,

Dr Yearwood is my personal doctor, although I have only seen him a couple of times because he is actually in Pascagoula, MS which is over an hour drive from where I live. I actually see his NP in Daphne for precriptions and I do like her. She is very willing to listen and does not question that I actually have PN like some other doctors have done. Originally I went to Dr Hapworth who is also in the same group, but he did not think I had the right symptoms for PN (I actually have classic symptoms), so that was when I decided to go to Houston and at least get a diagnosis from doctors who do see lots of patients with PN.

I do not know anything about the other doctors you mention. I have seen Dr Chen, who is with Physician Pain Specialists in Mobile, and I liked him, but just thought if I was going to try a Neurostim, that Dr Y would be better as he pretty much does those exclusively. I think it is important to have the same doctor who does the trial to do the permanent implantation, and that is not what happens with the other doctors around here.

But as far as doctors who see many PN patients, there are none in Alabama that do as far as I know. There is a doctor in Jackson, MS who does pulsed radiofrequency ablation of the pudendal. I cannot think of his name, but he might be the best one for you as you are still in the diagnosis stage. I am sure I will remember his name soon and I will send it to you when I do, or you could start looking up Pain Management MD's in Jackson.

[gwynnsh]

Ok. I guess Dr. Yearwood doesn't visit the Daphne clinic? I found a Dr. Kevin Vance in jackson, MS that treats people for chronic pain so that may be him. There's a Dr. Austin in Birmingham, AL that uses the pulsed radiofrequency ablation approach. Here's a quote from his site "strives to establish an accurate diagnosis and incorporates cutting edge, minimally invasive procedures for targeted pain relief treatment. Dr. Austin performs pain relief management procedures primarily in the spine but also in peripheral nerves, joints, and soft tissues. By incorporating radiofrequency technology, he is able to provide a longer duration of pain relief than many of the other treatments currently available. He also understands the complex multifactorial components that are involved in chronic pain and uses a comprehensive approach to treat the whole patient." PRF seems to be really helpful for urgency, frequency & pain so I'm looking into getting it done soon. I want to get an MRN done first in order to get a better understanding of what's going on & the closest one is also located in Birmingham. I live in Mobile so it's only as few hours away. Until then, I guess I'll continue to see my PT & get treated by her. Has Dr. yearwood been able to help you any?

[JeanieC]

Hello again,

Yes, Dr Vance is the one who has done PRF on someone I know through the Facebook groups. She says that both times it lasted only 2 weeks. I wish I knew more about Dr Austin in B'ham, but I have never heard of him. He does sound promising though, I am going to see what I can find out. Dr Yearwood does not see patients in Daphne, and he has only ever really seemed like he was interested in doing neurostims. I had originally asked him about doing PRF and he replied that "we can't really justify doing them because they don't work". He was willing to help me find a doctor to do cryoablation though, as my NP told me he used to do it a lot himself, but he no longer does. Unfortunately the doctor he recommended was not to be found. I have had PN for 6 years, so I have pretty much tried everything. There was not much left for me by the time I went to Dr Y.

If you decide to go to Dr Austin I would be very much interested in what you find out. I am going to look up what ever I can find on the web. I had PT in Fairhope at Thomas Hospital. Where did you find a pelvic floor PT in Mobile?

[gwynnsh]

I've read where PRF can be really helpful for urgency & frequency, which could potentially be wonderful for me. I think most doctors want to try a standard nerve block first though. I wonder what her symptoms & duration were as compared to mine. The website for the pain clinic in Birmingham is bamapain.com (several doctor profiles are listed with specialties) The Andrews clinic in Gulf Breeze also uses cutting edge technology & techniques but I can't decide which one to go to myself. Gulf Breeze is only about an hour away but I'm not sure if they use PRF for treatments. I plan on filling out an application on their website but again, I'm still waiting to get the MRN first. I noticed they use the 3 Tesla MRI at their facility which is supposed to be really good as long as the right doctor reads the scan. I actually drive to Crestview, Fl once per week (1.5 hours) to see my PT, Ruth Jenkins. She's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to pelvic floor dysfunction (28 years exp.) & she's working with me to see if I can get some relief before I try any blocks, etc. This hell has basically consumed my life & I'm determined to get to the bottom of it (20 years of chronic pain has taught me that) Anyway, hang in there & I'll let you know of my progress.

[JeanieC]

The woman I know who did only get very brief relief from PRF developed PN after bladder surgery, using mesh. I am not sure exactly what her symptoms are though. I do think that all the doctors require a PN block to be done by them first, though. I suspect that the doctors around here who do PRF do it on nerves other than the pudendal but I certainly don't know for sure. I have tried emailing several of them to ask, but have never received a reply.

Dr Robert Wright of Denver Pain Management has treated 2 members of this forum with PRF. One of them is even cured of PN from 2 treatments by him. He is the only doctor I have ever read about who has helped anyone this way for long. It might be worth a flight to Denver just to go to someone we know can help. I hope your MRN will show what is causing your pain.

I have seen Ruth Jenkins name before, so it is good to know something about her. I went to Connie Gillespie at Thomas and at that time she was also going to Daphne one day a week. That was several years ago though, before I had a PN diagnosis.

Thank you for giving me these names in B'ham and Gulf Breeze. I may very well go to both of them, and I will definitely stay tuned for your posts.

[gwynnsh]

You may be correct when it comes to blocking neves other than the pudendal nerve. I sent an email to them as well but never hear a word. I haven't heard of Dr. Wright but I'll certainly look into it. I'm sure the PRF has to be done exactly right in order to get the most benefit but maybe Dr. Vance can actually help with my situation. I might get in contact with him. My urologist (his nurse) informed me today that we wouldn't give the order for the MRN so I ended up hanging up on her. Needless to say, I was extremely upset since he's the one that caused this horrible mess. She kept saying "since your still having problems then you need to come in for a follow up" to which I replied "Why? He caused this problem & has no clue as to what is wrong with me nor does he even care" She wanted me to come to Springhill & have an MRI through my urologist (Terry) & that's when I hung up. Unbelievable! I'm still pissed. Was Connie able to help you or did it make things worse? What are your symptoms & was Dr. Ansell able to help you with surgery at all? Sorry for the questions, I'm just trying to make snese of everything.