FAQs

Appointments can be arranged by contacting Dr. Krishna’s secretary (Jo Creedy) on 07703292692. Please leave a message if the secretary is not available to take your call.
Alternatively, please send an email to clinic@painspa.co.uk or simply fill the ‘Get in Touch’ form available on our website: www.painspa.co.uk.

A referral letter from your GP or any other specialist involved in your treatment would be helpful but is not an absolutely necessity.

Please bring a list of medications (ideally a copy of your prescription) and results of any investigations such as scans or blood tests done recently.
Please bring copies of letters from consultations with other specialists if related to your current problem.

You will be seen by Dr. M Krishna, Consultant in Pain Medicine. Our Pain Nurse may also be present during the consultation. The consultation is likely to last up to 45 minutes. Dr. Krishna will conduct a comprehensive review including taking a detailed history, medication review, examination and organising relevant investigations if appropriate. Finally, he will formulate a detailed management plan, which will be communicated to your GP through a clinic letter. A copy of the letter will be sent to you and to any other relevant specialists involved in your management.

This is possible in some cases but it depends on a number of factors:
For some injections like botox, we need to order the drug on a ‘named patient basis’ and hence it may not be available on the same day.
If you undergo injection treatment we strongly advise that you are accompanied by a responsible adult who can drive you back to your home.
Some injections require fluoroscopy (X-ray) guidance and hence cannot be performed on the same day.
You can discuss this with our secretary prior to your appointment.

You are advised not to drive for up to 24 hours after the injection or longer if you feel unsafe. You will need some one responsible to take you home.

You can generally return to work the next day but you should avoid heavy work and strenuous activity for up to 48 hours.

Most of the procedures are performed under local anaesthetic and you will be fully awake during the procedure. Dr. Krishna will numb the skin and deeper tissues with a local anaesthetic to minimize the discomfort during the procedure.
Rarely, sedation may be needed for certain treatments, in which case you will need to be starved for 6 hours prior to the procedure. You should not have any solids or liquids during this time. However, clear liquids such as black coffee, black tea, dilute squash or water are allowed for up to two hours before the procedure. Milk should be considered as a solid and hence should not be consumed for up to 6 hours before the procedure.

You should always tell the doctor if you are pregnant or likely to be pregnant.
You should inform the doctor about any blood-thinning medications that you might be taking. This includes Aspirin, Clopidogrel, Warfarin, Heparin and some of the newer ones like Rivaroxaban, Apixaban, dabigatran and so on.
Finally always inform the doctor about your allergies, especially latex, iodine, and to any other medications.

Dr. Krishna is registered with all major insurance companies. Please make sure you obtain prior authorization from your insurance company before any consultation and treatment. Otherwise, you will be liable to pay the full fee incurred.

Dr. Krishna sees patients from all over the world. Patients have visited us from many countries including America, Canada, India, Hongkong, Sweden, Spain, France, Guyana, Morocco, Netherlands, Greece, New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Brunei, Denmark, Ireland, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few.

If you give us enough notice, we will try our best to organise an interpreter. You will need to pay for the interpreter services but we will tell you in advance the cost of their services. Alternatively, some of our overseas patients have used Google translator with good success.

The nearest train station to The Willow surgery is Bristol Parkway, which is 4.5 miles or about 20 minutes drive. The nearest train station to The Nuffield (Chesterfield) Bristol Hospital is Bristol Temple Meads, which is 2.0 miles or about 10 minutes drive. Please note that the drive can be longer in peak traffic hours, so please give enough time for your journey.

Bristol airport is 7.5 miles or 20 minutes drive from The Nuffield (Chesterfield) Bristol Hospital. The Willow surgery is 16 miles from Bristol airport and it takes 35-40 minutes to reach us by taxi. In peak traffic, the journey times will be longer.

The following hotels are located near the Willow Surgery:

Premier Inn Emersons Green, 200/202 Westerleigh Rd, Emersons Green, Bristol BS16 7AN Phone: 0871 527 8162

The Langley Arms, Guest Ave, Emersons Green, Bristol BS16 7GA,  Phone: 0117 957 3512

Holiday Inn, Filton Rd, Winterbourne, Bristol BS16 1QX  Phone: 0871 942 9014

9 Prince’s Buildings, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4LB  Phone: 01179734615 (http://www.9princesbuildings.co.uk) Lovely place but 9 miles away, up to 30mins journey, recommended by a patient of ours.

Please click the link below for more hotels near the Willow Surgery:

https://bit.ly/2rfdEHc

Please click the link below for hotels near the Nuffield (Chesterfield) Bristol Hospital:

http://www.roomguide.co.uk/landmark/bristol-nuffield-hospital-the

Yes, we offer evening appointments. Please discuss your requirements with our secretary. We work fairly flexibly to suit the requirement of our patients.

It is really important to understand that medical treatments do not work the same for all patients. Some patients respond well to treatments, whilst the same treatment may not work in other patients. There may be several reasons for this including genetic differences, differences in anatomy and physiology between individual patients and, reasons that are not fully understood.

At Painspa, almost all our injection treatments are performed under either ultrasound guidance or fluoroscopy guidance. We can guarantee the accuracy of the injection but we cannot guarantee the success of the treatment, as this is not in our hands.

We appreciate that private treatments are costly but paying for your treatment does not increase the success rate.

Dr Krishna will always explain during the consultation and before the injection treatment that in some cases the injection treatment may not give us the desired results or the pain relief may not be sustained beyond a few days/weeks.

It is also impossible to predict the longevity of pain relief from any treatment. Some patients may get several months of pain relief from steroid injections ( up to 6 months), but in other patients, the pain relief may be only short-lived. Radiofrequency treatments tend to last longer (up to 6 months to 2 years) but in some patients, they may last only for a short duration.

We will offer you a follow-up appointment after your treatment so that you can discuss further management options as appropriate to your condition. Please note that there will be a consultation fee for the follow-up appointment.