An Overview of Pain Management in 2022
Finding the most effective pain management protocol and treatment is tricky. If you are living with chronic pain, you may even feel as though you’ve exhausted all your options with your current practitioner. We understand. To help you make educated choices for your chronic pain treatment, our interventional pain physician team put together this quick start guide to understanding contemporary pain management.
What Do Pain Specialists Do?
Pain specialists are doctors who are board-certified in the medical sub-specialty of chronic pain. That means they have received extra training and education in specialized modalities which are approved by a certifying board. They themselves are also approved by that same board.
In most cases, patients do not need a referral to go see a pain specialist. However, if a patient is currently being treated by their family physician and looking for additional therapies, a referral may help. It’s also important to check up on health insurance restrictions/requirements before making the initial consultation.
Contemporary Pain Management Treatments
Advanced pain practices like CPC use four key treatment types, also known as modalities. For decades, it’s been well known that treatments are most successful when they approach a condition from all four categories. The core treatment categories are as follows:
Medical: Medication management services such as diagnosis and prescribing, evaluation of effectiveness, and ongoing monitoring of medications
Physical: Physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic manipulation, and acupuncture
Psychological: Pain psychology techniques such as biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-management training, nutritional counseling and psychological/neuropsychological testing
Interventional: Steroid injections, nerve blocks, nerve ablations, distraction techniques, and implants such as spinal cord stimulator
These treatments are planned and implemented based upon an assessment of the patient’s condition completed by an interventional pain physician.
What Pain Specialists Do NOT Do
When looking for a qualified pain specialist, it’s important to be aware of the boundaries that a quality pain specialist will have in place. The following is a short list of several of the things a pain specialist does not do in his or her assessment, diagnosis and treatment.
Does NOT rely solely on opioids for treatment of chronic pain.
Does NOT promise to cure a chronic pain condition.
Does NOT dismiss or disregard a patient’s pain complaints, belief system, or preferences.
Does NOT start treatment with the most invasive treatment strategies.
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
An initial assessment will include a thorough evaluation with complete history, complete examination and a collection of available medical records. He or she will also communicate with other members of your care team about your condition and treatment strategies. At your first appointment, you can expect the following:
Your pain specialist will go over your health history, medication list and listen to your pain symptoms
He or she will perform a thorough physical examination
If needed, diagnostic studies (MRI, CT scans, X-Ray, etc.) will be performed
To learn more about these steps as well as detailed descriptions of some of the treatment strategies that guide a pain specialist, watch this video made by CPC president and medical director, Dr. Edward Lewis.
Waynesville Pain Management
Finding the most effective comprehensive pain management protocol and treatment is tricky; our dedicated medical team is comprised of experts in a wide range of non-surgical and interventional treatments, such as physical therapy, prescription pain medications, epidural steroid injections, joint & soft tissue injections, spinal cord stimulator implants, kyphoplasty, and others. If you have questions or are ready to schedule an appointment at one of our 14 convenient Asheville-area locations, contact us today to speak to one of our clinic representatives.