Odessa physician helps fight chronic pain

About four years ago, Alice Cone was talking to her doctor about foot and back problems. He told her there was someone in Odessa who could help her.

So the environmental scientist with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Midland set up an appointment with Dr. Stuart Small.

Cone said her foot condition "was quite painful and caused me discomfort with my legs and feet."

 "So he injected me and that helped a lot," she said.

Small says pain management treatment is still evolving - but the field's made great strides in the past 15 years.

Small, an anesthesiologist for 33 years, took up the pain management sub-specialty in 1993.

In pain management, Small deals with chronic pain problems, primarily in the spine, he said.

"First, we determine what the origin of the pain is," he said.

The patient has to fill out a five-page questionnaire, which helps determine what type of treatment is needed. Some can be helped with pills, electronic treatment or injections, while others are referred to surgeons.

"When we can take an individual with a specific spine problem and make them comfortable, that's our goal," he said.

Sometimes it takes time before a correct treatment is discovered, Cone said. After her initial treatment, she still had problems.
But Small worked with her until the pain was gone, ultimately prescribing a pill called Cymbalta.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and, suddenly, my feet didn't hurt, and my legs didn't hurt," she said. "One pill and four hours and ‘Bam!' "

Along with helping her do her job better, Cone said she's better able to enjoy her passion for raising, training, riding and showing registered horses.

Cone said Dr. Small is a persistent caregiver.

"He's very attentive, and he's very knowledgeable," she said. "He'll work with you until you get to a place where you can get some kind of help."