Gateway Midwest Healthcare provides pain and injury care for Union, MO patients, including the diagnostic blocks and radiofrequency procedures that have no local route in Union. The office is about 55 minutes away, and no referral is needed to book.
Union is the Franklin County seat, and like the rest of the county it is underserved for interventional pain care.
Why do Union patients drive to St. Louis for pain care?
The pattern here matches the other county seats we draw from: solid primary care, a hospital, and no local route to a diagnostic block or a radiofrequency procedure.
So patients arrive with reasonable histories and no specific diagnosis. The visit is worth the drive precisely because it is diagnostic — establishing which structure is responsible changes what happens next far more than another prescription would.
The roads around Union, and what they send us
Highway 50 and Highway 47 carry Union, the county seat, with I-44 a few miles north.
Local geography also determines how late people present. Where the nearest alternative is close, patients try it first, and we tend to see the problems that did not settle rather than the ones that did.
Highway 50 east to I-44, then north on I-270. Mixed highway and interstate, straightforward in good conditions.
What conditions do Union patients see us for?
Diagnostic nerve block
Establishing the source before treating it.
Facet joint pain
The most common identifiable source of persistent back pain.
Sacroiliac joint pain
Diagnosable only by image-guided injection.
Radiofrequency ablation
The durable treatment that follows a confirmed diagnosis.
What this means for Union patients in practice
The value of a diagnostic visit is easy to underestimate before you have had one and obvious afterward. It converts a symptom into a target, and everything downstream becomes aimed rather than approximate.
Practically, it means one of four answers: the facet joints, a disc and its nerve root, the sacroiliac joint, or a myofascial and deconditioning picture. Each has a different treatment and a different prognosis, and mistaking one for another accounts for a large share of treatment that has not worked.
For a patient nearly an hour away, that single answer usually justifies the trip more than any individual injection would.
What should I bring for the trip from Union?
For Union patients the work most often centers on diagnostic nerve block, facet joint pain, sacroiliac joint pain and radiofrequency ablation. Each of those has its own page setting out how it is diagnosed here and what treatment actually involves, and reading the relevant one before the appointment tends to make the visit more productive.
The drive is about an hour by I-44 and I-270, which is why we consolidate rather than spread appointments out. Where a diagnostic block and its follow-up assessment can reasonably share a visit, they do.
Please bring imaging, medications and a short history of previous treatments with their outcomes. Where records exist elsewhere, telling us in advance lets us request them before you travel.
Fifty-five minutes each way. Visits are consolidated and the follow-up is by phone wherever that is genuinely adequate.
We also see patients from Washington, Pacific and De Soto. The full list is on areas we serve.
To book, call or text us. Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We are at 12174 Natural Bridge Rd, Suite 110, St. Louis, MO 63044 — about 55 minutes from Union, Franklin County. No referral is needed to book and no attorney is needed to be treated after an accident.
What is a diagnostic nerve block for?
A diagnostic block is a test that happens to feel like a treatment. A small amount of local anesthetic is placed under image guidance at a specific nerve or joint, and the question being asked is simple: if we switch this structure off, does the pain go?
That question cannot be answered by imaging. Scans show anatomy and degenerative change, both of which are common in people with no symptoms at all. A block interrogates function, which is what actually matters.
The information it produces is valuable in both directions. A block that works points to a target for longer-lasting treatment. A block that does not work is not a wasted appointment; it removes a candidate and redirects the search, which is why we treat a negative result as a finding rather than a failure.
Questions we get from Union
What will the first visit actually achieve?
A diagnosis, or a clear plan for reaching one. That is usually the thing that has been missing.
How many visits before a procedure?
Typically two: assessment, then the confirming block. Ablation follows if the blocks are positive.
Do you coordinate with my local hospital?
Yes. We write properly and send records where you direct us.
What if the block does not relieve my pain?
Then that structure is not the source, which is genuinely useful. It redirects the search rather than ending it.
Is it painful?
Local anesthetic is used and most patients describe pressure more than pain. The procedure is brief and performed under image guidance.
What is pain management?
For Union patients, pain management here starts with finding the source. A diagnostic block places a small amount of local anesthetic under image guidance at one nerve or joint to see whether the pain goes. The answer is usually one of four: the facet joints, a disc and its nerve root, the sacroiliac joint, or a myofascial and deconditioning picture. Radiofrequency ablation follows when the blocks confirm the target.
Do I need a referral to see a pain doctor?
No. Union patients can book directly by calling or texting, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. No referral is needed to book, and no attorney is needed to be treated after an accident. If your records sit with another doctor or hospital, tell us in advance and we will request them before you make the drive.
How far is the office from Union, MO?
About 55 minutes each way: Highway 50 east to I-44, then north on I-270, to 12174 Natural Bridge Rd, Suite 110. Because of the distance we consolidate visits. Where a diagnostic block and its follow-up assessment can reasonably share a visit, they do, and follow-up is by phone wherever that is genuinely adequate.
12174 Natural Bridge Rd, Suite 110
St. Louis, MO 63044
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Hurt in an accident? Start here.
You do not need a lawyer, a police report or a referral to be seen. Bring your symptoms and we will work out the rest.
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Same-day appointments are often available for new accident and injury patients.