CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Living with chronic pain is a daily battle against an unseen enemy. At Desert Pain Specialists, patients are heard, understood and supported throughout their pain management journey by a team of highly trained and compassionate physicians.

“Chronic pain can be devastating to a patient’s life,” said Dr. Court Empey, an interventional pain management specialist and the founder of Desert Pain. “Some people appear young and healthy, and it’s not obvious they’re dealing with debilitating pain.”

St. George resident Jeremy Frehner enjoyed long-distance running for most of his adult life and has crossed the finish line of 75 marathons. Over the last 10 years, however, his ability to run was progressively impacted by degenerative arthritis within his lumbar spine. Injections providing temporary pain relief allowed him to stay fairly active, but he still lived with chronic back pain.

In 2021, Desert Pain started offering a new treatment option for patients like Frehner who suffer from persistent and debilitating back pain originating in the vertebrae. Intracept is a cutting-edge outpatient procedure that only a handful of medical professionals nationwide are trained to perform.

With Intracept, the physician uses a radiofrequency probe to ablate the nerves within the vertebrae of the lower back. The goal is to disable the connection so pain signals from that area can no longer be transmitted to the brain.

In the past, the only option for treating this type of back pain was to perform a spinal fusion. But Intracept is a far less invasive procedure that keeps the structure of the spine intact.

For Frehner, the results were monumental. Intracept has allowed him to move through life with far less pain. He no longer needs to take occasional painkillers to get through the day and doesn’t anticipate needing to return to Desert Pain for injections in the near future.

“I have had a tremendous amount of relief,” he said. “It was a miracle for me, and I’ve really enjoyed the way I feel since I’ve had it done.”

Although his best running days are behind him, Frehner said he wouldn’t trade those miles for anything. He feels hopeful about the future thanks to Intracept and the experts at Desert Pain.

Frehner and Empey were in the same graduating class at Dixie High School and have kept in touch over the years. Being able to see a pain specialist that he knows and trusts made all the difference, Frehner said, adding that the staff at Desert Pain knows him by name and has supported him throughout his eight-year pain management journey.

“We’ve been really excited and pleased with how he’s done,” Empey said. “As a physician, the ability to treat patients and get them back to their normal function is really gratifying.”

The specialists at Desert Pain are dedicated to helping patients find relief from a wide range of chronic and acute pain conditions using all available resources, including injections, nerve blocks, regenerative medicine, physical therapy, medications and surgery. Although it isn’t possible to get every patient completely out of pain, many experience significant improvement.

Desert Pain operates a state-of-the-art facility at the Riverfront Medical Center in St. George that allows them to offer unmatched quality of care to their patients. And with satellite locations in Hurricane, Hildale (opening in September), Cedar City, Kanab, Beaver, Panguitch, Delta and Fillmore as well as Mesquite and Overton, Nevada, they’re prepared to serve the needs of the area’s growing population. 

Call 435-216-7000 or visit the Desert Pain website to schedule an appointment today.

Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.

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Resources

• Desert Pain Specialists | Telephone: 435-216-7000 | Email: [email protected] | Website.
• Locations:
  • St. George: 617 E. Riverside Drive, Suite 301.
  • Hurricane: 48 S. 2500 West, Suite 110.
  • Cedar City: 1760 N. Main St.
  • Beaver: 68 N. Main St.
  • Panguitch: 200 N. 400 East.
  • Kanab: 348 N. 300 West.
  • Delta: 126 White Sage Ave.
  • Fillmore: 65 N. Main St.
  • Mesquite, Nevada: 340 Falcon Ridge Parkway, Suite 600.
  • Overton, Nevada: 475 N. Moapa Valley Blvd.

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