What is pain management?

Pain management is a specialized branch of medicine whose practitioners utilizes interventions and medications to ease the suffering and improve the quality of life of those living with chronic pain.

Pain management physicians can help to diagnose and treat many forms of chronic pain. The most common diagnoses are nerve and joint related pains from the lower spine and neck. Additionally, a pain specialist can handle other chronic forms of neuropathy and arthritis. Read more about our pain management treatments and the conditions we treat specifically.

Medication management may range from topical therapies to oral medications. Injections usually consist of cortisone injections into the nerves and joints of the spine as well as injections into the hips, knees and shoulders. Muscles can be targeted with injections as well.

In summary, pain management physicians seek to alleviate pain at the source as much as possible and improve quality of life. While curing pain is always a worthy goal, often times we focus on helping patients to manage chronic pain and improve their functionality despite pain.

Regenerative medicine, such as Platelet Rich Plasma therapy, looks to be the future of pain management. As we learn more about the role of stem cells and plasma and platelets in the healing process, we will be able to use the body’s own healing substances to affect changes in joints and nerves.

Who needs a pain management physician?

Anyone who has pain lasting more than 4-6 weeks is a candidate to see a pain management physician. Call us today and we can set up an initial consultation to best understand your unique situation.

Does a pain management physician always prescribe pain medications?

No, often pain can be alleviated without medication if the patient is willing to undergo a targeted injection that can alleviate the pain at the source. If medications are needed, we try to choose non-narcotic agents first and reserve opioid type medications for severe intractable pain.