Dr. Benjamin Seeman (front) with his team at Interventional Spine & Pain Management (Photo by Jay Paul)
Benjamin Seeman’s family assumed he would go into medicine and follow in the footsteps of his father, gastroenterologist Irvin Seeman. But it wasn’t until a 17-year-old friend was injured in a motorcycle accident that the younger Seeman decided to become a physician.
The friend had lost control of his motorcycle, which struck a fire hydrant just down the street from Seeman’s house. “We all heard the crash and came running,” Seeman recalls.
His friend was alive, but two of his toes had been cut off in the collision. Seeman and his mother tried to keep the young man calm as the family scoured the ground in search of the toes and found them. “My dad, a longtime physician, approached, knowing exactly what to do,” Seeman says. He quickly stored the toes so they could be reattached. “I was so struck by his relaxed and focused demeanor. This was the moment I was certain that I wanted to become a doctor.”
His family — parents, aunts, uncles, cousins — has a long history in medicine. “I often say that I grew up in the hospital. My brother and I spent a lot of time at St. Mary’s during our childhood, as my father worked there as a physician,” he says.
Seeman is a doctor of osteopathic medicine. Osteopaths are fully licensed medical physicians practicing in all areas of medicine, but D.O.’s receive special training in the musculoskeletal system and take a comprehensive, whole-person, hands-on approach.
Seeman with patient April Frank (Photo by Jay Paul)
“It makes it a good fit for medical students who want to get into sports medicine and/or physiatry [physical medicine and rehabilitation],” he says.
There are more than 108,000 osteopaths in the United States, according to the American Osteopathic Association’s Osteopathic Medical Profession Report: 2017, representing a 68 percent increase in D.O.’s since 2007.
Seeman was first introduced to osteopathic manipulation technique (OMT) years ago, after he was in a car accident. “I was referred to a physical therapist at St. Mary’s hospital who specialized in OMT. This made me feel better so much faster than I’d ever expected,” he says. “I didn’t have any more pain as a result.”
His father as well as a mentor, Ed Isaacs, encouraged Seeman to pursue a fellowship in interventional pain management after his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Manipulation has its limitations. In my experience it can’t be used for everyone. When it isn’t enough, it’s important to have additional options in your black bag,” Seeman says. “That said, I believe intervention such as injections or surgeries should be introduced only after osteopathic therapies, physical therapy, as well as other conservative measures have been explored.”
Many patients who have been suffering from chronic pain for years come to him as a last resort. “There is a common frustration and desperation among new patients,” he says. “Some have had multiple surgeries. Others come to us deeply dependent on narcotics.”
Niraj I. Patel, M.D., refers patients with acute and chronic pain to Seeman’s private practice, Interventional Spine & Pain Management. “He and the members of his team truly understand how to deliver care and communicate with this complex care issue as it pertains to chronic pain management, acute pain management, work-related injuries, etc.,” Patel says.
Seeman and his father, Irving Seeman, who is also a doctor (Photo by Jay Paul)
Seeman has enforced a strict non-narcotics policy since his practice opened in 2008. The policy is often a “turnoff for patients seeking narcotics for pain,” he says, noting the opioid crisis in this country. Last year over 11 million Americans misused prescription opioids, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Seeman knows his hard line “on non-narcotic pain management can be discouraging for some,” he says. “But we’re in the business of helping people get better, not masking their symptoms.”
Amy Frey Miller, a family medicine physician who sends her patients to Seeman, prefers that Seeman’s approach to pain is “not to numb it, but rather to try and fix the underlying mechanisms responsibly. That is a much more holistic approach in line with my own and better for patients long term,” she says. “It also aligns with the most recent recommendations for care.”
Andrew Rose, the regional medical director for Bon Secours, also refers patients to Seeman because he “excels in non-narcotic approaches for spinal pain. His technique is superb, and I have found he has a much higher success rate at spinal injections than any in his field. The patients love him,” says Rose, who works at Ironbridge Family Practice in Chester.
Seeman also cares for patients of Michael F. Amendola who are in need of follow-up outside of the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. “He has taken excellent care of the patients from the VA Medical Center. So much so, that I have encouraged my friends and family to see him as well,” Amendola says, adding that Seeman’s staff has gone “above the call of duty to care for our veteran patients who desire follow-up outside of our facility.”
The 14-member staff at Interventional Spine & Pain Management is tight-knit. “I’m lucky to have a staff that believes in our mission. We work as a team, and everyone pulls together to help make patients feel better,” he says. “No doctor in any town is good without his staff being very supportive. I have an amazing staff.”
The team isn’t limited to just staff. “We are a family business," Seeman says. “In fact, most of my clients are family members or friends of people we’ve treated.”
His patients share their appreciation in different ways, and that’s gratifying for him. “One lady I have treated for years for back and leg pain brings me a bag of homegrown okra every year,” he says. “It’s the best okra I’ve ever had, and it means so much to know she’s doing what she loves.”
Treating Pain Without Opioids
For years, doctors have prescribed narcotics to help alleviate debilitating, chronic pain. Drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone were often the go-to solution. But with the current opioid crisis, doctors are starting to change the way they prescribe pain medication.
“All too often narcotics are prescribed unnecessarily and in the worst cases, they can exacerbate the problem and potentially lead to addiction,” says Dr. Benjamin Seeman. “For example, narcotics like hydrocodone and oxycodone, which are effective in treating joint pain, are frequently misprescribed to patients suffering from neuropathic (nerve) pain. Patients taking these narcotics for neuropathic pain often require a higher dosage for the drugs to be effective.”
Seeman, who uses non-narcotic medications and other treatments in his office, finds that patients appreciate the results they experience when they go the non-narcotic route.
Example Treatments Include:
Amniotic membrane/umbilical cord injections (regenerative properties stimulate tissue growth and healing, decrease scar tissue formation and improve function)
Compression treatments (reduces swelling, accelerates recovery, helpful for athletes)
Cryotherapy (extreme cold, localized treatment that reduces inflammation, repairs tissue damage, improves function)
Epidural steroid injection therapy (treats pain caused by disc herniation as well as spinal stenosis causing sciatica; back and leg pain)
Functional bracing (allows patient to function at a higher level with minimal pain without the use of other substances that may cause severe side effects)
K-laser treatments (light therapy, promotes tissue growth and reduces inflammation)
Non-narcotic medications (some decrease inflammation, others reduce nerve pain, alleviate stress)
Osteopathic manipulation (improves alignment, and ultimately, function)
Physical therapy (strengthens range of motion, improves flexibility and function)
Spinal cord stimulators (reduce back and leg nerve pain, useful to patients who have experienced failed back surgeries)
Steroid joint injection therapy (treats joint pain such as facet joints, sacroiliac joints, hips, elbows, knees, shoulders and more)
