Meet Our New Pain Management Specialist

Dr. James Halderman

March 2001

If you suffer from chronic back pain, you're not alone. Back pain is the number one problem seen by Dr. James Halderman, one of our newest staff physicians. Highly trained in pain management, Dr. Halderman joins Dr. Margaret Haggerty in the Pain Management Clinic in the Tracy Medical Specialty Suite.

"Back pain probably causes more anguish and loss of work than any other chronic pain condition. It can really knock you out," says Dr. Halderman. "We need to let patients and primary care doctors know that there are proven methods for diagnosing and treating back pain. A lot of people could feel much more comfortable."
One of the most common treatments Dr. Halderman performs is the injection of steroids into the spine (epidural steroid injection). A series of three injections given every six months can effectively reduce and sometimes even eliminate back pain for months at a time.

Dr. Halderman's training in fluoroscopy allows him to use X-ray technology to guide an epidural needle into the exact location when working on patients who have had back surgery. Before he arrived, such treatments weren't available to patients who had undergone back surgery.

Dr. Halderman treats other types of pain as well, including shingles-related suffering. Patients with this painful neurological disease sometimes find themselves in agonizing pain even after the initial outbreak of blisters has healed.

"The condition is generally under-treated," says Dr. Halderman. "Patients often have no idea why they are still in so much pain and aren't aware that anti-seizure medications and other pain management treatment may help them."

If you suffer from back or other chronic pain, your first step is to see your primary care doctor who will do an exam, including X-rays and other tests as needed. If your doctor refers you to the Pain Management Clinic, the doctors there will use your earlier exam and test results as part of their preliminary workup to help decide on the best course action.

Dr. Halderman is happy to be living in Tracy and is pleased to bring his specialized skills to Sutter Tracy. "It's a great community hospital, small enough that you can get to know almost everyone in the hospital, but large enough to have access to a multitude of specialists and services."

Bio on Dr. Halderman
Dr. James Halderman is an anesthesiologist and specialist in pain management. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Arkansas and completed his internship at Flushing Hospital in New York. Dr. Halderman completed his residency at Cornell University Medical Center, New York City and a pain management fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. To contact his office, please call 209-833-0381.