Pulse of UTMC

Dr. Joseph Atallah is one of the pain specialists at UT Medical Center. I remember meeting him about two years ago when he first arrived and was impressed by his approach and his demeanor, and he’s being featured on our MedTV program, so I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned from and about him. 

Dr. Atallah is an anesthesiologist by specialty with a sub-specialty in pain medicine. What I really like about his philosophical approach to pain is his use of pain-management methods that are not pain-killing drugs, which, when used long-term, can cause addiction, loss of quality of life and other health problems.

You’ll see in the MedTV video how just one of the non-narcotic pain management options available is spinal cord stimulation, which uses the implantation of leads, much like those used with a pacemaker, to block pain messages in the spinal cord from reaching the brain.

This may sound a little freaky to people not dealing with chronic pain, but those battling the physically and emotionally taxing condition see methods like this as a beam of light in a sea of darkness.

Chronic pain is often a result of orthopaedic conditions, and Dr. Atallah works closely with orthopaedic specialists at UT Medical Center – his medical office is even located in the UT Orthopaedic Center. His special interests include back pain, failed back syndrome, cancer pain, CPRS and phantom pain.

In addition to learning about the philosophy and methods he uses to treat chronic pain, I’ve learned something equally important about Dr. Atallah – he’s a compassionate, kind-hearted man. I’ve witnessed him on the patient-care side of things, and he always seems to put himself in his patient’s shoes, keeping at the front of his mind that these folks are often just plain miserable, both physically and mentally, many desperate for relief, sick of pain medication that puts them in a fog and often doesn’t help the pain very much. He works hard – squeezing patients in so he can help them as soon as possible. And, finally, he’s dedicated to teaching medical students and residents about this important area of medicine.

Areas of the health-care industry often pride themselves on treating the “whole” patient. Dr. Atallah definitely does.