Love for her family, community makes Desert Pain’s new physician assistant a perfect fit

Kylie Fackrell poses for a photo with her family, location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Kylie Fackrell, St. George News

CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — When a patient visits a doctor’s office, often one of the first points of contact is the physician assistant. These highly trained medical professionals go through extensive schooling and training rotations in order to properly care for the patients they see.

The facade of the new Riverfront Medical Center where Desert Pain Specialists is located in St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo by Jeff Hauck courtesy of Desert Pain Specialists, St. George News

For Desert Pain Specialists, finding the right physician assistants to help properly diagnose and treat people suffering from acute or chronic pain is a crucial component of their overall mission to offer first class treatment.

Bringing a deep love for the community in which she was raised, Kylie Fackrell became Desert Pain’s newest physician assistant in October 2019. She told St. George News it was a perfect fit to join the team that she described as “stellar.”

Fackrell said she was impressed by the holistic approach the pain clinic takes to treating patients as people, not just as a diagnosis or a problem to be fixed.

“We validate you,” she said. “We make you feel like you are not alone, and we actually care what happens to you.”

It is that approach that Fackrell said made Desert Pain the best choice for her career and her education.

Fackrell was raised in Southern Utah and was a graduate of Snow Canyon High School. She majored in biology at Southern Utah University in Cedar City and attended additional school to become a physician assistant at Rocky Mountain University in Provo.

Desert Pain Specialists’ newest physician assistant Kylie Fackrell, location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Kylie Fackrell, St. George News

She said that as a native to the area, she really cares for this community and feels as though she has a deep understanding of the people and how to help them live their best life.

“We love the community,” Fackrell said of herself and her husband, adding that they both love living where they know their neighbors and have so much connection.

It was this connection to her community and neighbors that led Fackrell to the position at Desert Pain.

During her schooling, Fackrell wasn’t sure what she wanted to specialize in. Desert Pain Specialists’ Dr. Court Empey is a neighbor of Fackrell’s parents, and he asked her if she would like to do a rotation with the pain clinic.

“I loved it,” she said. “I picked up on it really well.”

Fackrell said her favorite part of the job is watching the shift people experience when their quality of life improves through pain treatment and management.

“You’re not happy when you’re hurting,” she said, adding that when she sees patients for a return visit to the Southern Utah pain clinic following a procedure or treatment plan, it is amazing the difference it makes for them to be able to do even the little things that people without pain take for granted.

“It’s nice to be able to contribute to their happiness,” she said. “It’s stressful sometimes but really fulfilling.”

Quality of life is key when considering starting and following through with a treatment plan for pain, Fackrell said. She offered several tips to help people know when to see a doctor and how to manage expectations.

  • Know when to see a doctor. If you have been trying to manage your pain on your own with over-the-counter medications but haven’t seen any improvements in months, or your pain is affecting your quality of life to the point where you are missing out on living, you should probably consult a physician.
  • Stick with it. There is no “one-pill-fixes-all” treatment for pain, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it is a long and difficult journey that can often be mentally taxing, but if you stick with it, it will be worth it.
  •  Set realistic expectations for your treatment plan. Even with the most advanced medical techniques and equipment, doctors will not be able to take away 100% of a patient’s pain all the time. Improving a person’s quality of life is the ultimate goal.
  • Be comfortable with modification. If you are in too much pain to walk, try pool therapy or something that you can do to stay active while you work through your treatment plan so you can stay as mentally and physically healthy as possible while you manage your pain.

About Desert Pain Specialists

Desert Pain Specialists is Southern Utah’s premier interventional pain management team. The doctors and the entire staff are dedicated to helping patients find relief from their pain. Their state-of-the-art facility in St. George, Utah, allows them to offer unmatched quality of care for their patients.

• S P O N S O R E D   C O N T E N T •

Resources

  • Desert Pain Specialists | Telephone: 435-216-7000 | Email: [email protected] | Website.
  • Locations:
    • St. George: 617 E. Riverside Drive, Suite 301.
    • Cedar City: 1760 N. Main St.
    • Mesquite, Nevada: 340 Falcon Ridge Parkway, Suite 600.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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