Fourteen front doors, one model of disease, one building next to the airport

You arrive with one problem. A back that never recovered. Feet that burn at night. A migraine that will not break. A pain dose that keeps climbing while the relief keeps shrinking.

It is rarely one problem. Chronic pain, opioid dependence, obesity and type 2 diabetes travel together and feed each other. The engine they share is metabolic inflammation. A clinic that treats only the piece matching its specialty leaves the rest of the engine running.

So this network is built the other way around. Each clinic is a clear front door for the problem you walk in with. Behind the doors sits one diagnostic discipline, and for the medical clinics, one physician: Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP. His background is on his page.

Not sure which door is yours? Tap the directory assistant (the light in the corner of the page) and describe what is going on.

What makes this different from a regular pain clinic?

Diagnosis comes before the needle. Back pain is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Image-guided blocks work as tests. They find the structure generating the pain before anything is aimed at it.

The metabolic workup is not skipped. Two patients with the same MRI do not have the same pain. The difference is the terrain: insulin, inflammation, sleep, nutrient status. Most clinics never measure it. These clinics do.

Lifestyle is part of the treatment. At least 40 to 50 percent of treating pain is patient lifestyle coaching. It is not a pamphlet at discharge.

How rare is metabolic health?

Rarer than most people assume. Under 12.2 percent of American adults met a full definition of optimal metabolic health in the national survey for 2009 to 2016. On the tighter criteria applied after 2021, the figure is under 7 percent.

The patients in these clinics are sicker still. Fewer than 3 percent of Padda Institute patients overall, and fewer than 1 percent of chronic pain patients, meet the same definition. Those are practice-reported figures from our own population, not trial outcomes, and individual results vary.

That is not a reason for alarm. It is a reason to measure.

The clinics

Padda Institute

The core interventional pain practice. Spine, joint, nerve, head and cancer pain are diagnosed with image-guided blocks and treated with ablation, stimulation and targeted injections, all on site. Patients arriving on high-dose opioids are tapered as procedures take over the work. Interventional pain management in St. Louis.

Regen.MD

A concierge regenerative medicine practice for joints, tendons, discs and nerves, built for patients told the next step is a fusion or a replacement. PRP, bone marrow concentrate and Lipogems go in only after the metabolic terrain is measured and corrected. It operates outside insurance. Regenerative medicine and PRP in St. Louis.

Regenerve

Burning, tingling and numb feet, treated as a microvascular and metabolic emergency rather than a foot problem. It starts with on-site nerve testing and a free five-question Nerve Damage Score. Peripheral neuropathy treatment in St. Louis.

Addictionology Center

In-person medication treatment for opioid, alcohol and drug use disorder. Evaluation, examination and prescribing happen in the clinic; detox is managed at home, with the provider reachable throughout. Opioid use disorder is treated with buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone). Addiction treatment in St. Louis.

Express Urgent Care

Walk-in care Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM, with no appointment needed, for injuries and illnesses that need prompt attention but not an emergency room. X-rays, lab tests, IV infusions, immunizations, concussion checks and confidential STD testing, for adults and children. Urgent care in St. Louis.

ImmigrationExam

The Form I-693 green card medical exam, performed by Dr. Padda as a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, for a $390 flat exam fee. Arrive with paperwork, testing and vaccine records complete and the form is sealed the same visit. Immigration medical exam in St. Louis.

Injury Experts

Accident and injury doctors for pain after car crashes and work injuries. The documentation is written the way a defense expert will read it, because one will. Accident and injury doctor in St. Louis.

Concussion Center

More than 90 percent of concussions happen with no loss of consciousness, and a normal CT does not rule one out. The clinic tests what imaging misses, starting with the vestibulo-ocular system through videonystagmography. No referral required. Concussion treatment in St. Louis.

Headache Express

Call or text and the clinic gets you in today. A pain physician treats the attack in front of you with IV therapy, occipital and sphenopalatine ganglion blocks, and high-flow oxygen for cluster attacks. Headache and migraine treatment in St. Louis.

Reversing Diabetes MD

A protocol for people who are overweight or already have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Nearly 88 percent of the US population is metabolically unhealthy, and the protocol uses medicine and science, not the next diet. Changing carbohydrate intake on glucose, blood pressure or mental health medication requires medical supervision. Type 2 diabetes reversal in St. Louis.

Live Health Protocol

Born in the pain clinic, where excess weight and chronic inflammation sat behind most patients' pain, fatigue and low mood. The mdHCG protocol is the kickstart. The Live Health Protocol follows so the weight stays off. Medical weight loss in St. Louis.

Infusion Center US

Infusion therapy paired with assessments of autonomic, metabolic and cardiovascular function: insulin resistance, blood flow, pro-thrombotic and pro-inflammatory markers. Infusion therapy in St. Louis.

Measura

About fifteen non-invasive assessments of blood vessels, the autonomic nervous system, small nerve fibers, metabolism, balance and cognition, done in one appointment. No needle, dye or radiation in the standard assessment. Every result is read with a clinician. Autonomic and vascular testing in St. Louis.

Communicare Elite

Missouri Consumer Directed Services: you choose your own in-home attendant, including a family member other than your spouse, and MO HealthNet pays for it. Communicare Elite runs the payroll, paperwork and Medicaid billing, and also provides licensed, Medicare-certified home health. Dr. Padda provides its medical oversight. Consumer directed services in Missouri.

What happens at a first visit?

Bring your imaging, a list of what you take, and a short history of what has already failed. The first appointment is a consultation and an examination. Nothing long is committed to. Where a diagnostic procedure is clearly indicated and you want it, it can sometimes be done the same day.

You should leave knowing three things: what is probably causing the pain, what would confirm it, and the realistic range of outcomes.

What if nobody has believed my pain?

Patients raise this constantly, and the data backs them. In a 2022 U.S. Pain Foundation survey of 2,378 people living with chronic pain, 63 percent reported feeling stigmatized by their own providers.

Reassurance does not fix that. Objective testing does. A diagnostic block does not depend on anyone believing your pain score. If numbing one specific nerve removes the pain, that is a finding, and it goes in the chart.

Can I get here without a car?

Yes. MetroLink's Red Line runs from downtown to Lambert International Airport, which sits directly beside the Woodson office. Call before your appointment and staff will walk you through the last stretch. If transport is what stands between you and being seen, say so when you book. It is a common problem and a solvable one.

Which clinic do I need?

Start with the problem, not the procedure.

• Pain that has outlasted normal healing: Padda Institute.
• Scheduled for fusion or replacement and want another path first: Regen.MD.
• Burning or numb feet: Regenerve.
• Opioid, alcohol or drug use disorder: Addictionology Center.
• New injury or illness today, not life-threatening: Express Urgent Care.
• A severe headache you already know the name of: Headache Express.
• Hit your head, told you were fine, not fine: Concussion Center.
• Pain after a crash or a work injury: Injury Experts.
• Prediabetes, diabetes or weight that will not move: Reversing Diabetes MD or Live Health Protocol.
• Want your vascular, autonomic and metabolic function measured: Measura.

Chest pain, stroke symptoms, a thunderclap headache, new loss of bladder or bowel control, or pain after major trauma: call 911.

Crossing several of these is normal. That is exactly why the clinics share one building.

How do opioids fit in?

Medication is a bridge, not a destination. Long-term opioids lose effect, and the dose climbs while the relief shrinks. Across the network, the plan is to let procedures, counseling and metabolic care take over the work so the dose can come down without withdrawal. Nobody is cut off. Nobody is started on opioids as the treatment. The approach, including tapering and the non-opioid toolkit, is on the opioid stewardship page.

What about insurance?

Each clinic sets its own terms, and each child page states them. Padda Institute verifies your benefits before anything is scheduled. Regen.MD works outside insurance by design. ImmigrationExam publishes a flat exam fee. Communicare Elite's Consumer Directed Services are funded through MO HealthNet. A prior authorization is never a promise of payment.

Where are the clinics?

St. Louis, on Woodson Road, next to the airport, reachable from I-70, I-170 and I-270. Each clinic has its own suite and its own number on its page. The main patient line is (314) 481-5000, and the text line is (314) 886-5902.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a referral?

Most patients refer themselves. Padda Institute, Regenerve and Concussion Center see patients without a referral, though some insurance plans require one for coverage.

Are these separate practices?

Separate clinics with separate front doors, sharing one diagnostic philosophy and one building. A patient who arrives for one problem can be treated for the others without starting over.

Do the clinics see Illinois patients?

Yes. Dr. Padda is licensed in Missouri and Illinois and holds privileges at Anderson Hospital in Maryville. Communicare Elite is Missouri only, because Consumer Directed Services is a Missouri Medicaid program.

Can I be seen the same day?

Padda Institute holds same-day appointments for urgent pain, Headache Express gets severe headaches in today, and Express Urgent Care takes walk-ins. Emergencies still go to the emergency department.

Why measure metabolism if I came in for pain?

Because inflammation sets the volume on the pain signal. Insulin resistance and inflamed fat tissue sensitize nerves and stall repair, so a procedure placed into an unmeasured terrain often fails to hold.