Can Ketamine Infusions Relieve My Chronic Pain?

When you’re among the nearly 25% of women and men in the United States who live with chronic pain, you may struggle to get through each day. 

Chronic pain influences your mood, sense of control over your life, and physical activities. Nearly 9% of adults with chronic pain have high-impact chronic pain that hampers daily activities, including work.

Pain gets labeled as “chronic” when you have pain on most days or every day for at least three months. If you suspect your pain has done more than hamper your physical abilities, you could be right: You’re four times more likely to have depression or anxiety than someone who’s pain-free.

At Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine in Addison, Texas, we offer a variety of therapies and treatments to help reduce your pain and get you back into your life. If you don’t improve with our standard approaches, our expert osteopath, Dr. John East, may prescribe ketamine infusions.

How can ketamine relieve your chronic pain? Below is a brief description of what ketamine is, how it works, and why it may be the solution you need to get back into the fullness of your life physically and mentally.

Ketamine started as an anesthetic

Ketamine was invented in 1962 as an anesthetic drug. Veterinary doctors used it to anesthetize animals for surgery. Doctors also used it on the battlefield to treat badly wounded soldiers.

Ketamine is fast-acting and leaves the body more readily than other anesthetics, leading to a quicker recovery. However, doctors noticed that some patients experienced hallucinations after regaining consciousness. They also experienced “out of body” sensations. 

These qualities of the drug weren’t helpful for post-surgery patients, but researchers realized that these effects might aid other conditions.

Ketamine dulls physical and emotional pain

Doctors use low-dose ketamine infusions to control pain when patients — including children — don’t need to undergo general anesthesia. In addition to dulling the sensations of pain while conscious, this medication also controls the anxiety or fear people often experience during a medical procedure.

Over time, clinicians discovered that ketamine’s unique effects on the brain could be helpful beyond anesthesia. At low doses, it can reduce pain, ease anxiety, and create a temporary sense of psychological distance from distress, which can be especially valuable for people living with chronic pain.

Today, ketamine is used in carefully monitored medical settings for conditions such as:

• Treatment‑resistant depression
• Certain anxiety disorders
• Post‑traumatic stress symptoms
• Chronic pain syndromes

Under a doctor’s care, ketamine can help patients experience their physical or emotional pain with less intensity, making it easier to engage in therapy, cope with symptoms, and regain a sense of control. 

If your chronic pain has contributed to anxiety, low mood, or emotional exhaustion, ketamine infusions may help improve both your physical discomfort and your overall well‑being.

Ketamine helps where other therapies fail

You may be a candidate for ketamine if you’ve tried other pain treatments but continue to suffer. If you’ve been in pain — despite treatment — for six months or more, it may be time for ketamine. 

Receiving a ketamine infusion is a relaxing experience. You sit in a treatment chair, as if you were getting an intravenous (IV) hydration treatment for general wellness. We clean and prepare your arm, and then insert a needle attached to the ketamine drip.

Over the next 40 minutes, the anesthetic gradually enters your bloodstream. At the low doses we use, many patients can disassociate from their pain without significant hallucinations, though some people may notice mild, temporary changes in perception.

Ketamine is safe when medically supervised

Ketamine has been used safely for decades in medical settings. When carefully dosed and monitored, low‑dose infusions can be well tolerated for many patients, but they’re not right for everyone.

The Cleveland Clinic also recently published data from 1,034 patients who received low-dose ketamine infusions from 2021-2024. Up to 46% who received five infusions reported clinically significant improvements in:

• Pain scale
• Fatigue
• Pain interference
• Self-efficacy
• Pain catastrophizing
• Global health

The researchers found that the patients maintained their good outcomes for at least six months. Side effects were minimal.

Are you a candidate?

Low‑dose ketamine infusions can be safe for many patients when carefully monitored. They’re a good option for many people, but not all. Out of an abundance of caution, we do not administer them to anyone who is or might be pregnant. 

Even if you have other medical conditions, you may still be a candidate, but we carefully review your history—especially heart or blood pressure problems—before recommending ketamine.

To find out if ketamine infusions are the right solution for your chronic pain, phone Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine today at 972-380-0000 or request an appointment online.