Apac Centers For Pain Management

Dr. Hagel and his staff are amazing. They care and take the time to review your options. He is honest and focuses on the individual. I am giving them a 5 star for customer service, care, respect, options and sensitivity! They have my full stamp of approval.

I saw the APAC doctor at the Broadway/​Diversey location, where they share an office with Illinois Bone and Joint Institute. My experience was awful enough that I felt it worth copying to the other APAC locations.
Went to see one of the «pain specialist» doctors, referred by my orthopedic surgeon. The APAC doctor completely ignored my actual complaints, did a perfunctory exam, and told me I needed to go on an expensive name-​brand medication for a condition that I’ve never been diagnosed with — and which requires a neurologist to diagnose.
I refused, which clearly pissed the doctor off. He proceeded to diagnose me with a certain joint dysfunction that could only be addressed with a floroscopy-​guided steroid injection. No other treatments possible, no other option, injection or nothing.
I had the injection, despite my misgivings, because I really am in a great deal of pain. It hurt, but that’s to be expected. I was hustled out the door afterwards with the briefest aftercare instructions possible, presumably because I was the last appointment before lunch.
I assume the rush to get me out the door is the reason they didn’t warn me that the steroid injection also contained a heavy-​duty anesthetic that would make my leg, from the hip down, completely numb. My leg gave out as I left the building and I went face-​down on the sidewalk. I had to be assisted into a cab, wobbled my way to my house, and had to literally CRAWL up the stairs. The next two days were spent on crutches. Once the anesthetic wore off, my pain returned.
A visit to my orthopedic surgeon this morning confirmed my suspicion — there is nothing wrong with the joint in question. I received a painful, expensive procedure with significant risks and side effects to deliver a shot of steroids to a perfectly healthy joint.
Avoid at all costs. Unless, of course, you have an extra $ 5,000 or so and you’d like to get a needle full of anesthetic and steroid shoved into a perfectly healthy joint.
ETA ¹⁰⁄₁₂ — APAC has contacted me by phone and postal mail to alert me to the fact that the steroid that was used in the injection is from the batch tainted with fungal meningitis. Two patients from the Chicago-​area APAC centers have developed the illness. It’s been over fouth months since my injections, so I’m unlikely to be sick, but it’s infuriating. Talk about adding insult to injury — or in this case, injury to insult.
I’ve also been diagnosed with a congenital malformation of the femoral neck. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my SI joint.

Oh, herniated L2 disc… why won’t you go away?
I had an issue with this disc in 2007 and, lo and behold, it herniates again in early 2011. Since I no longer live in the suburbs, Hinsdale Orthopedics isn’t really convenient for me anymore, so I needed a new doctor. Northwestern Orthopedics wasn’t cutting it for me (too much emphasis on surgery), so I decided to seek a second opinion. Enter Dr. Newman from the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and his referral for me to see Dr. Chang and the Centers for Pain Management.
I’ve been coming here since November 2011 and I’ve been happy with the treatment I’ve received. I’ve had two rounds of cortisone shots in the disc, which seem to have stabilized the disc and nerve pain. I’ve been prescribed some medication that helps with swelling, nerve pain and general pain if I need it. I’ve had an EMG (courtesy of Dr. Pang, Dr. Chang’s partner) and can see a map of the nerve damage that’s occurred in my leg due to this stupid disc herniation.
All in all, it’s been a long process, but the treatment has been well-​informed and I’m very happy with my experience at APAC. Of course, I’ll be ecstatic once I’m actually able to leave APAC for good, but until this problem is fixed, I’ll be coming back here for regular treatment and advice. Definitely worth a go, especially if you feel like you’ve reached a wall at other orthopedic places.