Ketamine Infusion Clinic Crestline Health Offering Breakthrough Treatments for Depression and Pain

January 10, 2020 - PRESSADVANTAGE -

Dr. Amy van Elkan opened Crestline Health and Wellness in October 2019 offering game-changing treatments for patients with severe depression and chronic pain. In addition, the treatments have been very beneficial for a wide variety of mood disorders. This success has been due to the use of low dose ketamine infusions in patients who are resistant to conventional therapies.

“These ketamine treatments can help people get back to work, resolve even very crippling post-traumatic stress disorders, keep pain at bay, and overall, see some light in the darkness,” said Dr. van Elkan.

Depression is one of the biggest mental health problems facing America. Each year, more than 15 million Americans seek treatment for their depression and of those, 30 to 40% will not get any significant improvement in their condition through the use of traditional therapies.

In 2000, there was a study conducted by Yale University investigating the use of Ketamine for traditional treatment-resistant depression. The study showed that the success rates when using ketamine were highly significant. Many other studies followed and backed up the results produced by Yale. Accordingly, in an effort to help patients who could not be helped in any other way, Crestline Health and Wellness opened and began offering low dose ketamine infusions as an alternative treatment.

Dr. van Elkan is an anesthesiologist who also received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Smith College. During her University of Alabama Anesthesiology residency, she began using ketamine for both general anesthesia and sedation cases where she noted significant positive post-surgical patient outcomes. Based on her extensive experience administering ketamine to both inpatients and outpatients and the ensuing positive results, she decided to focus her practice exclusively on ketamine infusion therapy.

Ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist and was first synthesized in 1962. In 1970 the FDA approved ketamine for use in the United States for sedation and anesthesia. The World Health Organization added ketamine to its list of essential medicines in 1985. Ketamine has been used in anesthesia for decades. It has a demonstrated history of safe and effective use as it does not depress breathing or lower blood pressure.

Accordingly, at the therapeutic levels used by Crestline Health and Wellness, ketamine is considered extremely safe with minimal side effects. In addition to low dose ketamine infusion treatments, Crestline Health and Wellness is a REMS certified SpravatoTM provider. SpravatoTM (esketamine) is a nasal spray form of ketamine which is indicated for patients with treatment resistant depression in conjunction with an oral antidepressant. When patients arrive for a ketamine infusion or SpravatoTM treatment they are connected to a vital signs monitor in one of the private, quiet and restful treatment rooms. For infusions an IV is placed with a very small gauge needle. Infusions typically last 40 minutes followed by a 20 minute recovery period. Patients are continuously monitored during the infusion. Unlike many traditional treatments, patients can generally tell if they have benefitted from the infusion after just one session.

In addition to depression, ketamine infusions are used to treat chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD, postpartum depression, neuropathic pain, OCD, migraine headache, CRPS/RSD, occipital neuralgia, pudendal pain, and trigeminal neuralgia.

C.P. a current patient at Crestline Health and Wellness said, “Dr. Amy’s vision to offer Birmingham the opportunity to regain their lives again is typical of her years of passion to motivate people such as myself to heal, feel and be the best they can. Her skill, exceptional medical knowledge, classy disposition, and compassion have created a new level of doctor patient trust and gratitude. Ashley (her nurse) is exceptionally responsible and responsive in every medical manner as well as being most compassionate, available, respectful and humorous. She is also by far the quickest nurse at resolving unusual queries I throw at her. This team consistently demonstrates their genuine care about their patients and have significantly improved my well being.”

Dr. Amy van Elkan and her team are considered leaders in the field of Ketamine infusion. Since its opening in October, many patients have benefited from this treatment protocol.

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For more information about Crestline Health and Wellness, contact the company here:

Crestline Health and Wellness
Leigh Drake
205-848-2768
mail@crestlinehealthandwellness.com
300 Office Park Dr Suite 105
Mountain Brook, AL 35223