Florida Pain Medicine — When You Want Your Pain Managed Responsibly! By John C. Cotey Dr. Maulik Bhalani M.D. knows that when people hear of pain clinics, some think of the so-called “pill mills.” He understands that after years of headlines about abuse of certain pain medications, particularly in Florida, the reputation is tough to shake. But, at Dr. Bhalani’s Florida Pain Medicine on Windguard Cir. (across from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, or FHWC, where he moved in May from his former location on Ashley Oaks Cir. in Seven Oaks), he says the perceptions are not even close to reality. “The typical working class person doesn’t want to see a pain management doctor because they think that doctor is going to get them hooked on medication,’’ says Dr. Bhalani. “Little old ladies, grandmothers, will come in and tell us...I know those stories that are out there on the news. But, when they come in here, from minute one, it’s a totally difference experience.” The office is clean and lively, the doctors are open and friendly and the approach to managing your pain, which employs the latest technological advances, is always, they say, measured and restrained, yet effective. “There’s not a bunch of guys outside in the parking lot smoking, looking disheveled, looking for pain meds,’’ Dr. Bhalani says. “That’s not the kind of practice we are.” The kind of practice Florida Pain Medicine is, Dr. Bhalani says, is one that focuses on interventional pain management. “Startto-finish pain care,’’ he says. Sometimes, in the best cases, that means opioid management, ice and injections until the patient can complete physical therapy.
Medicine in Omaha, NE. He also spent two years as a resident at Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore in 2005; was the chief resident at the University of South Florida’s Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program; and completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Pain Medicine Fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine at USF in 2010. He is Board-certified in Interventional Pain Medicine and in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Dr. Bhalani’s credentials also Dr. Navdeep Jassal (left) and Dr. Maulik Bhalani of include sitting on the Board of the Florida Pain Medicine, located off Bruce B. Downs Florida Society of Interventional Pain Blvd., across from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. Physicians (FSIPP) as a Director-atin July after completing a Pain Medicine FelLarge, and he is proud of the work the FSIPP did in helping craft the so-called “Pill lowship at USF, where he was a student of Dr. Bhalani’s. Before that, he was a resident Mill Bill” in 2011, which forced clinics to at North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) register with the state and banned doctors A Little Info About The Doctors from dispensing opioid prescription painkill- Health Systems and Hofstra North ShoreLIJ School of Medicine in Great Neck, NY. Dr. Bhalani, a huge local sports fan and ers like Vicodin and Oxycodone from their Most patients Drs. Bhalani and Jassal 10-year Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket offices. The Prescription Drug Monitoring see are what you might expect — those sufholder who dons a Jameis Winston jersey for Program also was implemented, which Drs. fering from back, neck and joint pain. OthBhalani and Jassal reference to look at a home games, has followed in the footsteps ers have more serious conditions, like poor patient’s prescription drug history. of his father, who is a pain medicine doctor recovery from back surgery, painful diabetes Dr. Jassal says he heard about all the in the Ormond Beach area of Florida, as well and even cancer. Each treatment plan varies. “wild wild west stories” about Florida’s pill as several of his uncles and aunts. The doctors at Florida Pain Medicine In fact, Dr. Bhalani is one of 13 cousins mills when he was studying in New York. say they prefer a conservative approach. “I didn’t believe it until I came down in his family – and all are physicians. Patients generally will not be prescribed here,’’ he says. “But, it’s improved dramati“We don’t know how to do anything any controlled pain medications on the first cally (since 2011), thanks to the efforts of else,’’ he says, chuckling and joking that he visit. The doctors are careful to give a full Dr. Bhalani and others.” might raise his kids, who are ages 3, 1 and exam — surprising to patients who have A car enthusiast and avid runner who 10 months old, to be NFL punters. been to other pain medicine doctors — and sometimes puts in 15 miles on a weekend as Dr. Bhalani received his M.D. degree look over X-rays and other images and notes a way to relax, Dr. Jassal joined Dr. Bhalani from the Creighton University School of “Then, we wean them off pain meds, hopefully with the goal of we never see them again, which means they are doing great and back to living their life,’’ Dr. Bhalani says. Florida Pain Medicine also offers Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and ultrasound therapy. In other cases, like patients with terminal cancer, Dr. Bhalani says his goal is not to let them live out their last days in misery. Whatever the malady, “We never force anything on anyone,’’ Dr. Bhalani says. Pain management means different treatments for different people. Every patient is unique, but the main goal for Dr. Bhalani and his associate at Florida Pain Medicine, Dr. Navdeep Jassal, M.D., is to help their patients return to a normal way of life. Their motto is “Restore Function, Relive Life.” “We want to get you back to where you can live your life the way you like living it,” Dr. Bhalani says.
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