The most useful clue costs nothing to check. Lie down flat. If the pain drops away almost entirely and then returns hard the moment you stand, that pattern belongs to bone rather than muscle, and it is worth an appointment this week.
The second clue is the absence of a real injury. Compression fractures in thinning bone often follow something trivial, and people spend weeks assuming a strain because nothing happened that seemed worth mentioning.
In the Phoenix metro, kyphoplasty is performed in office at Mesa in the East Valley or at Westgate in Glendale, both of which have fluoroscopy on site. Arizona patients are not sent to Colorado for it. The procedure is also performed at Mountain View Surgical Specialists in Denver, which serves the Colorado side of the practice.
You can be assessed at Deer Valley, North Phoenix on Dunlap, Peoria, Chandler or either procedure clinic, and the procedure is scheduled at whichever is on your side of the Loop 101.
The balloon lifts what it can of the collapsed vertebra and the cement holds the result. The height gained varies. The stability does not, and stability is what the pain relief actually comes from.
There is a shape argument too. A vertebra that heals collapsed at the front tips the spine forward slightly, and several of those stacked up is how people end up with a stooped posture and a reduced appetite for walking. Treating fractures while they are fresh is partly about avoiding that accumulation.
Most people are up and moving quickly and are encouraged to be. Bed rest is not the goal; it costs bone and muscle that are already in short supply.
Physical Therapy follows to rebuild trunk strength and balance, both of which matter for avoiding the next fall. In summer that work generally happens indoors, and it is worth starting rather than waiting for October.
Most major commercial plans are accepted in Arizona and we are in network with most Medicare Advantage plans. AHCCCS is accepted for Pain Management only. Benefits are verified before the appointment.
Where a fall or collision is involved, billing runs through the relevant carrier or an attorney lien. Assessment does not need a referral and appointments are usually available within the same week.
See the general kyphoplasty page, or Pain Management in Phoenix.
Other Phoenix pages by complaint: sciatica treatment in Phoenix, herniated disc treatment in Phoenix, low back pain treatment in Phoenix, neck pain treatment in Phoenix, knee pain treatment in Phoenix and neuropathy treatment in Phoenix. And by procedure: epidural steroid injection in Phoenix, radiofrequency ablation in Phoenix, spinal cord stimulator trials in Phoenix and nerve block in Phoenix.
Every clinic below has Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management on one chart, so care can move between them without a new referral.
Downtown out through the north, west, south and east suburbs.
Academy, InterQuest and Tenderfoot cover the north, central and south of the city.
Harmony in Fort Collins and our Greeley clinic serve Larimer and Weld counties.
Across the Valley, from the West Valley through Phoenix to the East Valley.
Mesa or Westgate, whichever is on your side of the valley. Kyphoplasty is also performed at Mountain View Surgical Specialists in Denver.
By imaging, which also shows whether it is recent enough for the procedure to help.
It is an outpatient procedure using local anesthetic, with sedation discussed beforehand.
Longer than the procedure itself, because of preparation, the time lying flat while the cement sets, and a short observation period.
Yes, and you should. Movement is part of the recovery rather than something to earn back slowly.
One fracture usually means the bone needs attention in its own right. That conversation belongs alongside treating the fracture, not after the next one.
For Pain Management only. Most major commercial plans are accepted and most Medicare Advantage plans are in network in Arizona.
Usually within the same week. With a suspected compression fracture that timing genuinely matters.
Kyphoplasty is performed in office at our Mesa and Westgate clinics. No referral is needed to be evaluated, and appointments are usually available within the same week.
