Pain Management in Villa Rica, GA

Summit Spine & Joint Centers’ Villa Rica office on Commons Way serves the area where Carroll, Douglas, Haralson and Paulding counties meet. Patients come from Villa Rica, Temple, Bremen, Tallapoosa and Dallas, as well as communities like Fairfield Plantation, Yorkville and Draketown, so they can get specialist spine care in west Georgia rather than driving toward Atlanta.

Dr. Gerald Chai sees patients at this office. He is double board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and in pain medicine. He earned his medical degree at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, completed his PM&R residency through Georgetown University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital, and trained in interventional spine care during a fellowship with Non-Surgical Orthopaedics in Marietta.

That PM&R background shapes how care works here. Beyond finding the source of the pain, the exam looks at how you sit, stand, bend and walk, because the goal is getting you back to normal activity, not only lowering a pain score. When an injection or nerve procedure is part of the plan, it is paired with the activity changes and home exercises that help the relief last.

Conditions

Villa Rica patients most often see us for one of these conditions:

• Herniated Disc: soft disc material pushing out through a tear and irritating a spinal nerve root.
• Degenerative Disc Disease: thinning of the cushioning discs between the vertebrae, a common source of neck and low back pain.
• Lumbar Radiculopathy (Sciatica): compression of a lower-back nerve root, the most common cause of sciatica.
• Spinal Stenosis: a tightening of the space around the spinal cord and nerves, common in adults over 50.
• Facet Joint Pain: an aching pain from the joints at the back of the spine, often worse when leaning backward.
• Back Pain: ongoing pain in the lower or mid back, including pain that has lasted more than a few months.
• Post-Laminectomy Syndrome (Failed Back Syndrome): persistent pain after a laminectomy or other back surgery that didn’t bring the expected relief.
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): a chronic nerve condition that causes severe pain, swelling and skin sensitivity in an arm or leg.
• Fibromyalgia: a chronic condition that causes pain in many areas of the body at once.

Treatments

Dr. Chai and the Villa Rica team offer the full set of 19 non-surgical treatments available across Summit Spine:

• Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection: steroid medication placed in the epidural space to calm irritated lower-back nerves.
• Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection: a targeted epidural approach that reaches one specific nerve where it exits the spine.
• Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection: steroid medication delivered near irritated nerves in the neck.
• Facet Joint Injections: an injection that can both relieve facet joint pain and confirm where it starts.
• Medial Branch Block: a short-acting numbing injection that shows whether radiofrequency treatment is a good fit.
• Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy: a radiofrequency treatment for lower-back joint pain, typically used after a positive medial branch block.
• Cervical Facet Radiofrequency Neurotomy: a longer-lasting option for neck joint pain that responded well to a diagnostic block.
• Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): a longer-lasting nerve treatment for chronic joint and spine pain.
• Rhizotomy: a procedure that quiets specific pain-carrying nerves.
• Sacroiliac Joint Steroid Injection: relieves low back and buttock pain that comes from the sacroiliac joint.
• Genicular Radiofrequency Ablation: a nonsurgical option for ongoing knee pain, often from arthritis.
• MILD: removes a small amount of thickened ligament through a tiny incision to relieve stenosis pressure.
• Vertiflex Superion: a minimally invasive implant that keeps a narrowed section of the lumbar spine open.
• Discography: an imaging-guided test used to confirm a painful disc before treatment is planned.
• Lumbar Sympathetic Block: blocks the sympathetic nerves that can drive burning pain in the legs and feet.
• Stellate Ganglion Block: a nerve block that can ease CRPS and other nerve pain in the upper body.
• Celiac Plexus Block: an injection that blocks pain signals coming from the abdominal organs.
• Intrathecal Pump Implant: for severe chronic pain, delivers small, precise doses of medication near the spinal cord.
• Back Pain Treatment: an individualized plan that may combine injections, nerve treatments and conservative care.

Providers

Villa Rica patients are currently seen by:

• Dr. Gerald Chai: a DO double board certified in PM&R and pain medicine, who completed an interventional spine fellowship in Marietta after his residency at Georgetown University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital

His full bio is linked above.

We accept all major commercial insurance carriers and Medicare. If you don’t see your plan listed, please contact our office at (844) 972-7752. The managed care health insurance market changes rapidly, and specific coverage questions should be discussed directly with your insurance company or our knowledgeable staff.