Nixing Neuropathy: A Case Study of Aline Hopson

Aline Hopson is, and always has been, a strong woman. This amazing 83-year-old resident of Los Angeles is a mother, grandmother, and homeowner. For 25 years, she worked as an early-education teacher with the Head Start Program and touched the lives of hundreds if not thousands of low-income children. The vital tutoring she provided armed these young students with the knowledge required to prepare them for elementary school and beyond.

While having dealt with more than her fair share of physical and emotional pain in life, never in her 83 years has Aline been defined by physical limitations. This strength is thanks, in part, to the long-time care she received from her trusted pain management provider, Dr. George Elkhoury. For over a decade, Aline has attended the Pain Management Center in Long Beach to see Dr. Elkhoury, a man she describes as someone she “can’t say enough good things about.”

Aline was originally referred to Dr. Elkhoury’s Pain Management Center by her primary care physician, who felt pain treatment would benefit Aline after she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and suffered a pinched nerve as a result of a slipped disc. Roughly three times per year for the past ten years, she has regularly received treatment from Dr. Elkhoury for her back pain and sciatica. The treatment has allowed her to keep active and enjoy life with greater mobility. Like many older adults, Aline’s independence depends solely on her ability to move, walk, and function without pain.

Neuropathy – A Condition with No Cure

While Aline and Dr. Elkhoury fought together against her back pain over the years, she knew a different, tougher condition was creeping into her body, one she sensed more in recent years. Neuropathy is the condition Aline and many others with diabetes dread because it has no cure.

In the spring of 2022, the day before a scheduled visit to Dr. Elkhoury, Aline Hopson had her first unfortunate neuropathy-caused fall in her home. She was left with excruciating pain in her shoulder, among other injuries throughout her body. The fall came from increasingly symptomatic neuropathy Aline was experiencing in her feet.

Neuropathy is the by-product of nerve damage in someone’s peripheral nervous system. It can feel like your hands or feet fell asleep, pins-and-needles, numbness, pain, sensitivity to touch, and tingling sensations. For Aline, the numbness in her feet made it very tough to balance and walk, and therefore, despite using a walker in her home, she still unfortunately suffered a serious fall. The next day Aline went in to see Dr. Elkhoury for her regularly scheduled sciatica treatment, but she wasn’t the same. She told him what had happened the day before.

A New Treatment for Many Conditions

That’s when Dr. Elkhoury first told Aline about a revolutionary new treatment he had discovered and applied to many kinds of pain.

Aline had never heard of a treatment for neuropathy before but was immediately intrigued because she already had a deep respect for Dr. Elkhoury’s abilities. That day he treated her shoulder using his new treatment, founded under his new office: Reset Pain Management. She immediately felt better. So much better, in fact, that she no longer required the surgery her other doctor had recommended the day before, immediately after the fall!

But that wasn’t even the best part. What astonished Aline most was the treatment Dr. Elkhoury applied to her feet, which eased her neuropathy and numbness. Like so many others, she had never imagined improving her neuropathy condition. Since its onset, the symptoms had only gotten worse. However, after Dr. Elkhoury’s treatment that day, her sense of feeling, her balance, and her ability to walk improved almost instantaneously. “I had more feeling, and I was able to walk straighter… it just helped,” said Aline of her initial treatment. “I didn’t expect that. It was really amazing.”

A Treatment Dependent on Patient Input?

Aline went back for a second treatment soon after, and the improvement in her balance was tangible. Months later, she still notices the improvements but also plans to go back soon for a refresher. Aline’s daughter-in-law, Shierra, said that Dr. Elkhoury had helped Aline so much that Aline would do anything to help him or recommend him to others.

In addition to the treatment, it’s Dr. Elkhoury’s caring nature that she’s been most impressed with. “He’s an amazing man and so patient. He’ll make time to listen to whatever I tell him about my pain and never rushes me,” said Aline.

Shierra says their whole family has been impressed with Dr. Elkhoury’s passion and care for pain. “It’s rare to have a doctor give so much individual time to each patient,” she said. “And trust me; we’ve been to a lot of doctors. So we know it’s rare!”

Part of what’s revolutionary about Dr. Elkhoury’s treatment is the doctor-patient interaction. Traditionally, pain is treated in the nerve root, where it goes to the spinal cord and finally to the brain. Normally, if modern medicine/doctors can’t alleviate the pain through the nerve root, narcotics are given to the brain to dull the pain receptors. Despite this approach being the standard method of treating chronic pain and neuropathy, it is often insufficient. Individuals with chronic pain find themselves frequenting emergency rooms due to the unbearable nature of their ailments. Often, they even seek surgery to manage their symptoms, but for some, not even that alleviates the pain. For many people with chronic pain, life becomes time-consuming doctor visits, nights in the emergency room, prescription refills, multiple surgeries, and a limit on their ability to enjoy life and perform their daily tasks. They invest large amounts of time, energy, and money in hopes of managing their pain, while their pain remains debilitating. Dr. Elkhoury at Reset Pain Management approaches pain differently and finds great success in treating the hyperactive pain receptors responsible for pain. The most demanding step of the treatment is working with the patient to locate the hyperactive nerve sensors causing their pain. After pinpointing the location of the hyperactive nerve endings, Dr. Elkhoury is able to reset the nerves and bring their activity back its normal level. During the procedure, Dr. Elkhoury injects a proprietary combination of medication into the pain receptors. His approach is steroid-free, non-narcotic, and minimally invasive. He considers the patient’s condition and their unique pain rather than just focusing on the brain.

About Dr. Elkhoury and Reset Pain Management

Dr. Elkhoury is a board-certified anesthesiologist with a subspecialty in pain management. After completing his pain fellowship at the University of Washington in 1982, he began his career at UCLA Medical Center, where he worked alongside several pioneering surgeons during the 1980s (first on pigs, then later on humans); Dr. Elkhoury helped develop the anesthesiology standards for liver transplants, a procedure that would become commonplace around the nation in the years to follow.

Dr. Elkhoury co-authored a double-blind study that not only won a major research award but also altered the way inflammation in patients is treated after knee arthroscopy. The findings showed that the number of peripheral pain receptors significantly increased when an area became inflamed, like after surgery. Dr. Elkhoury proved that post-operation pain caused by knee arthroscopy could be controlled by applying topical pain medication to the inflamed surgery site rather than through pills or injectable medications. This technique of post-operative pain for knee arthroscopy is now standard practice.

In addition to working at UCLA, Dr. Elkhoury practiced anesthesia for liver transplants both at Cedars Sinai and St. Vincent Medical Center. He also practiced anesthesia at Long Beach Community Medical Center.

After many years as a pain management doctor, Dr. Elkhoury made a breakthrough in the field of pain: hyperactive nerve endings can cause and spread pain to larger areas of the body. He determined that resetting the activity level of these overactive nerve endings, thus returning them to baseline, helped to diminish the pain signals that they produce. This realization is what prompted the development of his new treatment: Reset Injections. It helped him treat Aline and many patients in a similar situation. This novel treatment can revolutionize the treatment of chronic pain and make a massive difference in the lives of more people like Aline. “Reset Injections is more than a pain treatment; it gives people mobility, freedom, and the ability to again enjoy the small pleasures in life.

Dr. Elkhoury has formed his Reset Pain Management clinic, where over the past year, hundreds have experienced once-in-a-lifetime pain relief. “97% of patients say they feel better before they leave his office,” according to the office staff.

Dr. Elkhoury continues to refine his treatment process, which is a safe procedure with no use of narcotics or steroids, with a focus on precision and accuracy for longer-lasting results. Dr. Elkhoury uses the treatment himself, as well as applies it to family, long-time friends, and patients like Aline. He invites anyone interested in his pain-relief technique to schedule a free consultation at his clinic by visiting resetpainmanagement.com.