What type of Dr. can treat Arachnoiditis?

[KathyRob]

I have been diagnosed with Arach, and suffer from a great amount of pain. I have been confined to bed for most of theday. I can not find a dr in my area who knows much about it.  I live in central Ca. Can you direct me to someone,or give me an idea where to start? I'm at the end of my rope, and my primary wants to discontinue my pain med for fear of addiction which is the least of my problems. Thank you for your time.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

First of all, if your doctors don't know much about arachnoiditis, I would be concerned that it is indeed the right diagnosis. Make sure you have had proper imaging of your spine and spinal cord with MRI and possibly dye (gadolinium). Second, a formal neuro exam should be done to make sure nothing is going on that needs urgent treatment outside of pain control. Finally if everything looks ok and you truly have arachnoiditis after a thorough investigation, then you should go to a special pain clinic that has anesthesiologists and/or neurologists and rehab docs on staff. Past conventional treatments for arachnoiditis such as steroid injections have not been shown to be of any benefit in patients with this problem. But there may be other options for you available. I can understand your primary doc's concern about you developing an addiction especially if you're getting narcotics. So talk to him/her about a referral to a pain clinic where you can explore all of your options. But again, make sure you have the right diagnosis before committing yourself to symptomatic pain control rather than treating a curable disease. GOod luck.