Stephanie Jones, M.D.

Meet Dr. Jones

Pain Management Specialist in Dallas

Chronic pain affects more than 70 million Americans. As a member of UT Southwestern’s comprehensive pain management program, interventional anesthesiologist and pain management specialist Stephanie Jones, M.D., offers the latest therapies for people whose daily functioning and quality of life are compromised by persistent and debilitating pain syndromes. 

“Patients often tell me ‘I got my life back’ or ‘You have no idea how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me,’” Dr. Jones says. “One patient who was basically disabled by severe leg pain was given an updated medical regimen and a lumbar sympathetic block. She’s now planning to run a marathon.” 

Dr. Jones primarily sees patients with non-malignant pain disorders at the Eugene McDermott Pain Management Center, one of the nation’s leading centers for advanced therapies for chronic pain. Back or spine pain is the single most common reason for patient visits to the center. 

“At least 50 percent of my patients have cervical, thoracic, or lumbar pain syndromes,” Dr. Jones says. Dr. Jones also sees patients with malignant pain syndromes at UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

To provide truly multidisciplinary patient care, Dr. Jones and her colleagues collaborate with UT Southwestern physical medicine specialists, as well as neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons who perform procedures on the spine. 

“The pain management program also includes physical therapists, a pain psychologist, and a psychiatrist who specializes in pain management,” Dr. Jones notes. “We all work closely together to develop and implement treatment plans.” 

While opioid medications are a mainstay of cancer pain care, a growing body of medical literature indicates that long-term opioid use in non-malignant pain syndromes is not only ineffective, but often counterproductive. Dr. Jones’s comprehensive, customized approach offers people who are coping with these other types of chronic pain the best outlook and outcomes possible. 

“We have had quite a few patients who were severely debilitated and taking heavy doses of opioids when they first came to us,” says Dr. Jones. “We’ve been able to provide them with interventional techniques, rehabilitative approaches, optimized medical treatment, and behavioral management strategies to greatly improve their quality of life.” 

Dr. Jones emphasizes that, ultimately, pain care comes down to treating the whole person, not the syndrome.

“We look at the big picture and take a comprehensive approach,” she says. “Our goal is to get people back to doing the things they want to do.”