Pullman Regional

Interventional Pain Management

Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management

If pain interferes with your daily life and cannot be managed through prescribed medication or therapies, interventional pain management may be able to help. Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management offers non-surgical pain management services to help diagnose and treat chronic pain. Interventional pain management involves using procedures to block and/or treat the source of your pain, rather than through prescribed medications. Therapies and procedures are performed on an outpatient basis.
A referral from your primary care provider or specialist is needed to access Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management services. Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management does not prescribe or stock medications, including opioids. 
Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management is staffed by Pullman Anesthesia, a group that has been practicing on the Palouse for over 30 years. Pullman Anesthesia is a member of the Society of Opioid Free Anesthesia (SOFA) and provides surgical and obstetrics anesthesia services to Pullman Regional Hospital.

Services

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Please note: this list is not comprehensive and may not include all of the procedures performed at Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management, but is intended to capture the majority of the common interventions. If you have questions or would like to schedule a consult, please call (509) 336-7725.  

  • Cutaneous nerve blocks
  • Hydro-dissection
  • Medial branch blocks and ablation
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition that often affects the limbs. CRPS typically develops after an injury, surgery, stroke, heart attack, or other major medical event. 
  • Sympathetic ganglion blocks in Cervical and Lumborsacral areas for both upper and lower extremities
  • Selective peripheral nerve blocks 
  • Hydrodissection of peripheral or ganglion nerves
  • Selective peripheral nerve
  • Iovera Cryneurolysis
  • Occipital nerve block/Iovera cryoneurolysis
  • Third occipital radio frequency nerve ablation
  • Botox for migraine injections
  • Genicular nerve ablation
  • Iovera cryoneurolysis

Lumbar back pain (low back) is generally referred to as the area of the back that starts below the ribcage. Pain can range from a dull ache to shooting pain, often impacting movement and standing. 

  • Lumbar back pain with Radiculopathy
    • Interlaminar and Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections
  • Lumbar back pain without Radiculopathy
    • Radio frequency neurotomy
Major joint pain treatments for knees, hips and shoulders
  • Intraarticular Joint Injections: Ultrasound and/or fluoroscopy guided
  • Radio Frequency Neurotomy
  • Iovera Cryoneurolysis
Minor joint pain treatments for elbows, wrists, hands, digits, ankles, feet, etc.
  • Steroid joint injections
Morton's Neuroma is a condition that affect the ball of the foot, often the area between the third and fourth toes. Morton's Neuroma involves a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to the toes. This can cause a sharp, burning pain in the ball of the foot. Those affected often have stinging, burning or numbness in the affected toes.
  • Iovera Cryoneurolysis

Myofacial pain (back or neck pain with Myelopathy)

  • Trigger Point Injections: Trigger points are painful "knots" in the muscle that can be sensitive to touch and/or pressure. Trigger Point Injections involve inserting a thin needle attached to a syringe into the trigger point and rhythmically needling the area by inserting and retracting the needle repetitively. The muscle will likely spasm or twitch. This is continued in multiple directions until the muscle twitching has stopped or until the muscle feels adequately relaxed.

 

  • Neck pain with Radiculopathy: 
    • Interlaminar epidural steroid injections
  • Neck pain without Radiculopathy: 
    • Cervical Radio Frequency Neurotomy
  • Ganglion of impar blocks
  • Superior hypogastric ganglion blocks
Phantom pain is experiencing ongoing sensations of pain in a part of the body you no longer have (most commonly involving limbs that are no longer there). 
  • Iovera Cryneurolysis
  • Scare tissue hydro-dissection

  • Iovera Cryneurolysis of intercostal nerves
  • Intercostal blocks

Sacroiliac pain affects the sacroiliac joints that sit where the lower spine and pelvis meet. Sacroiliitis can cause pain and stiffness in the buttocks or lower back, sometimes extending down one or both legs.

  • SI joint injections
  • Caudal epidural steroid injections
Coccydynia is pain in and around the bony structure at the bottom of the spine, called the coccyx.
  • Coccygeal joint injections: Individuals with persistent coccydynia may benefit from local injections, which involve administering a numbing agent and a steroid to decrease inflammation around the coccyx region and the sacrococcygeal junction to provide pain relief.
Thoracic back pain (also referred to as middle and upper back pain) is often caused by muscle irritation or tension. 
  • Thoracic back pain with radiculopathy: 
    • Interlaminar epidural steroid injections
  • Thoracic back pain without radiculopathy:
    • Cervical radio frequency neurotomy
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) acts as a sliding hinge connecting your jawbone to your skull. TMJ dysfunction can cause pain and tenderness in your jaw joint and surrounding muscles and ligaments. 
  • TMJ Injections: TMJ injections include Lidocaine, steroids, hyaluronate, and Botox injections to treat pain in localized areas. 
  • Masseter Muscle Botox: Masseter Botox is a non-surgical cosmetic treatment that involves injection(s) into the masseter muscles.

Iovera Cryoneurolysis: Iovera applies freezing cold to peripheral nerve tissue to block and/or relieve pain for up to 90 days. This treatment can be used for pre-total knee replacement surgeries to help with pain management. Iovera treatment takes about 30 minutes.

If you're scheduled for a total knee replacement surgery, ask your orthopedic surgeon if you would be a good candidate for Iovera Cryoneurolysis.

Trigger points are painful "knots" in the muscle that can be sensitive to touch and/or pressure.
  • Trigger Point Injections:  Trigger Point Injections involve inserting a thin needle attached to a syringe into the trigger point and rhythmically needling the area by inserting and retracting the needle repetitively. The muscle will likely spasm or twitch. This is continued in multiple directions until the muscle twitching has stopped or until the muscle feels adequately relaxed.

 

Providers

CRNA_Corey_Johnson

Certified Register Nurse Anesthetist

Corey received his bachelors degree in Nursing in 2000 from Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, OR. Upon graduation, he worked as a critical care nurse at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR for 8 years. Corey attended Gonzaga University and graduating in 2010 with a Masters in Anesthesiology Education. Corey joined the United States Army Reserve in 2001 and has been mobilized to Fairbanks Alaska, and Kosovo.

Corey joined Pullman Anesthesia in 2010 and has been President since 2016. He is a preceptor for senior nurse anesthesia doctoral interns from Gonzaga University as part of their small community anesthesia experience. Corey enjoys the opportunity to provide cutting edge, cost effective anesthesia and pain management services. Corey is married to Kathy and has three adult children and two grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, and many outdoor activities. 

John Schirmer-1

Certified Register Nurse Anesthetist

Nationally certified in Interventional Pain Management

John began his career in healthcare in 2004 as a US Army medic where he was also trained as a Licensed Practical Nurse. After a 15 month deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, John returned home to continue his education. He obtained an Associates of Science in Nursing degree from North Idaho College in 2011 before going on to receive his Bachelor’s degree in Nursing in 2013 at Boise State University. In 2017 John graduated from Texas Wesleyan Graduate School of Nurse Anesthesia where he obtained and Master’s of Science in Nurse Anesthesia.

His Post Graduate training includes a Non-Surgical Pain Management Externship through Premier Pain Management LLC where he was nationally certified in Pain Management in 2019. He has been practicing Pain Management in the Palouse region since 2020. John enjoys camping, fly fishing, big game hunting and bird hunting as well as spending time with his family.    

Patient Resources & Forms

Contracted Insurance Companies, PPO & HMO with Copays or Deductibles

Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management is a preferred provider for the following companies:

Aetna
Amerigroup
Asuris
Blue Cross of Idaho
Cigna
Community Health Plan of Wash.
Coordinated Care/Cenpatico
First Choice Health Ntwk (FCHN)
GEHA (Aetna)
Group Health/Kaiser
Health Net Federal Svcs (HNFS)
ID Medicaid/Optum Idaho
Medicare WA
Molina Washington
Premera
Regence of ID
RR Medicare
TriWest VAPC3
United Healthcare (UHC Optum)
WA Medicaid - Providerone
 
Non-Contracted or Other Insurance Carriers

We are willing to bill any insurance for you. However we are not contracted with all of the insurance companies. This means that you may be responsible for more of your bill.

Co-pays or co-insurance payments are expected at the time of service. We do expect some payment at each visit. For your convenience, we do take Master Card and Visa.

If you have questions regarding your bill, please call our billing office and they will be happy to help you.

Patients Without Insurance Coverage

We offer a 20% discount for patients that do not have insurance and pay their bill at the time of service. Payment plans are available if you are unable to pay in full.

Questions?
Please contact our Patient Financial Services team:
840 SE Bishop Blvd, Ste 101
Pullman, WA 99163 (map)
Phone: (509) 332-1163
Fax: (509) 332-6579

Hours:
Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closed on Saturdays & Sundays

Our goal is to improve the health of our patients by providing appropriate, high-quality, comprehensive care to you and your family.

As a new patient, we will ask you for several pieces of information upon check-in:

  • Government-Issued Photo ID
  • Current Health Insurance Card - Please note that all co-payments are expected at the time of service. If you do not have insurance, please contact our office so that we may discuss payment arrangements with you.
  • New Patient Paperwork

As a new patient, you will be asked to arrive fifteen minutes ahead of your appointment to ensure that we can complete your check-in process and all necessary paperwork. 

Location | Contact Us

Pullman Regional Interventional Pain Management
  • Address: 825 SE Bishop Blvd. Suite 140, Pullman, WA 99163
  • Phone: (509) 336-7725
  • Fax:  (509) 538-5919
  • Referrals Fax: (509) 715-2132
  • Operating hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. [Closed 12-1 p.m. for lunch]
  • Email: Pain@pullmanregional.org