At Phoenix Family Medical Clinic, our providers work with arthritis patients to minimize their suffering and help them lead normal pain free lives. Treatment of arthritis is a process that is over a long term period and our providers design plans to address this.

What is arthritis? What causes arthritis?

Arthritis is a joint disorder featuring inflammation. A joint is an area of the body where two different bones meet. A joint functions to move the body parts connected by its bones. Arthritis literally means inflammation of one or more joints. Arthritis is frequently accompanied by joint pain. Joint pain is referred to as arthralgia.

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What is hormone replacement therapy (HRT)?

Phoenix Family Medical Clinic offers bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for men and women. This preventive medical HRT is not limited to women; men also face decrease in DHEA and testosterone with dramatic symptoms including erectile dysfunction and loss of interest in sexual activity.

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The providers and medical professionals at Phoenix Family Medical Clinic are working with a large group of diabetic patients and helping to make their lives better and reducing the effects of the disease on daily activities.

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Phoenix Family Medical Clinic strongly believes in providing flu shots for our patients to prevent the flu. We have this season's Flu Shots at all our clinic. Seasonal influenza may cause three to five million cases of severe illness and up to 500,000 deaths per year worldwide. Vaccination against influenza is considered one of the most effective ways of preventing mortality, complications and hospitalizations. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children six months of age and older and adults receive an influenza shot annually. More information about seasonal influenza can be found at http://flu.gov and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2012-2013.htm.

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Functional & Regenerative Medicine

Anti-aging treatments available in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix Family Medical Clinic has providers that have Fellowship in Anti Aging Medicine from The American Academy Of Anti Aging Medicine (A4M). Dr. Steven Bescak has a DABAAHP designation from the A4M Institute as a Fellow of Anti Aging medicine. The Fellowship provides learning and provides the most current approaches in integrative Medicine for treatment and prevention of disease. The Fellowship comprises of findings in endocrinology, cardiology, nutrition and wellness.

Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine optimizes the body’s natural mechanisms of self healing and provides proven and nearly proven treatments and technology. Adult stem cells are the most powerful tool we have in this regard. There is a hormone optimization portion of Anti Aging medicine which we use to optimize stem cells.

Progesterone and Estradiol are both used to improve incorporation and mobilization of the endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). The lifestyle component of Anti Aging medicine utilizes exercise and control of glucose and insulin as integral components. The new phase of Anti Aging medicine we have entered uses cryogenic preservation of the adult cell stems in healthy patients for future use.

Functional Medicine

Functional medicine is an integrative cutting edge approach to illness and to promote health by focusing on the uniqueness of each individual patient. Balance is very important in Functional medicine; balance of physiological, psychological and structural aspects of overall health of the patient.

Functional Medicine is focused on treating the fundamental cause of the problem and not masking the symptoms. It focuses on patient centered approach versus a traditional disease centered approach.

Come see the difference our leading edge integrative health approach changes your life forever. Some of the Symptoms that can be treated with the Anti Aging modality are Hypertension, sexual drive, erectile dysfunction, lack of sleep, fatigue, hair loss, endocrinology issues, lack of focus, depression and so on.

Providers at Phoenix Family Medical Clinic use injection of joints, bursae, tendon sheaths, and soft tissues of the human body a useful diagnostic and therapeutic skill. Our providers use Trigger Point and Joint Injection for treatment of common pain symptoms of the neck, shoulder, wrist, hand and other lower limbs. A lidocaine injection into the subacromial space can help in the diagnosis of shoulder impingement syndromes, and the injection of corticosteroids into the subacromial space can be a useful therapeutic technique for subacromial impingement syndromes and rotator cuff tendinopathies. Evidence-based reviews of joint and soft tissue injection procedures have found few studies that support or refute the efficacy of common joint interventions in medical practice. However, substantial our practice-based experience supports the effectiveness of joint and soft tissue injection for many common problems.

These injections are most useful in instances of joint or tissue injury and inflammation. History of pain, local and referred, will provide important clues to the underlying pathology. Physical examination is extremely helpful in ascertaining the diagnosis. Our providers observe the patient's response to previous injection in deciding whether and when to proceed with reinjection. Most patients, if they are going to respond, will respond after the first injection. If the patient has achieved significant benefit after the first injection, an argument can be made to give a second injection if symptoms recur. However, patients who have gained no symptom relief or functional improvement after two injections should probably not have any additional injections, because a subsequent positive outcome is low.

Local Anesthetics

Before injection of a joint or soft tissue, a small quantity of 1 percent lidocaine is injected subcutaneously with a 25- to 30-gauge needle to provide local anesthesia. For the actual joint or soft tissue injection, most physicians mix an anesthetic with the corticosteroid preparation. This provides temporary analgesia, confirms the delivery of medication to the appropriate target, and dilutes the crystalline suspension so that it is better diffused within the injected region.

Intra-articular steroid injections have produced clinically and statistically significant reduction in osteoarthritic knee pain 1 week after injection. In a meta-analysis, Arroll determined that evidence supports short-term (up to 2 weeks) improvement in symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee after intra-articular corticosteroid injection. The beneficial effect has been found to last for 3 to 4 weeks. Local corticosteroid injection as treatment for flexor tenosynovitis was found to be 90% effective in relieving symptoms, and serious adverse effects were avoided if guidelines were followed.

How Do Knee Osteoarthritis Injections Work?

Normal joint fluid contains a substance called hyaluronan. It acts like a shock absorber and lubricant in your joint and is needed to help the joint work properly. Hyaluronan is highly viscous, allowing the cartilage surfaces of the bones to glide upon each other smoothly. This leads to decreased symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Benefits of Joint Injections:

• Steroid injections, such as cortisone, reduce swelling and ease pain in the joint. The knee can flex more normally. Activity which would have caused pain or been impossible before the injection can be resumed.
• An injection of a bio-lubricant can increase flexibility and reduce pain caused by osteoarthritis. The bones are lubricated so there is less grating on each other.
• One of the major benefits of injections in the knee are that they can decrease or eliminate the need for surgery.