Pain management specialists treat patients with underlying illnesses or long-term surgical complications. A multidisciplinary method of care is often used for pain management. Doctors for pain management, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other experts who focus on certain conditions can treat the ailment accordingly. This piece talks about what pain management doctors do, the kinds of pain they treat, how they treat pain, and other things.
What Does a Pain Doctor Treat?
A pain management expert is a doctor who looks at your pain and helps with a lot of different kinds of discomforts. A doctor who specializes in pain management helps with both short-term pains like headaches and long-term pains like low back pain. People with pain can go to a pain center and be sent home the same day. Dallas pain clinic can help you with a variety of medicines and procedures that can stop the pain where it starts.
As experts in pain management, they know how to find and treat painful medical problems without surgery. They are experts at treatments that are meant to ease different types of joint and musculoskeletal pain. As a matter of fact, some of the most common treatments doctors for pain management use are epidural steroid injections for sciatica, spinal cord stimulation for complex regional pain syndrome, radiofrequency ablation for neck and back pain, and cortisone injections for joint pain. Specialists like neck pain doctors in Dallas are experts in diagnosing and treating chronic conditions.
What Kinds of Pain Do They Treat?
If someone is in pain from more than one type, they may need more care. Even though everyone has different needs, those who think they need more help with their pain than their general care doctor can give them should ask for a referral to a pain management doctor.
Acute Pain
The initial phase of severe pain is quick and transient. Often, it’s because of these things:
- Blunt force
- Muscles that are pulled or stretched
- Sprains
Acute pain is usually very sharp. After a short time, usually between a few days and months, it usually goes away. When the underlying condition is treated, it generally goes away. But if you don’t fix it, the condition can get worse and cause long-term pain. If the pain is very bad, the doctor may suggest that the person see a pain management doctor to help with their pain. Some people may need stronger drugs or shots to help ease their pain.
Long Term Pain
Long-term pain lasts for at least a few months. A lot of doctors say it’s pain that lasts at least three to six months. Pain that doesn’t go away can be dull or so bad that it makes you unable to do anything. A lot of the time, people who have constant pain spend more on medical care and may not enjoy life as much. There are a lot of ways that doctors for pain management can help people with chronic pain. They can help someone with their care and suggest other therapies that might help them feel better.
Neuropathic Discomfort
Nerve pain can be caused by a number of different illnesses and accidents, including
- Multiple sclerosis, cancer, and postherpetic neuralgia
- Nerve pain after surgery is caused by diabetic neuropathy
- Damage to the spinal cord
- Stroke
Nerve damage can cause neuropathic pain. People who treat pain may suggest tricyclic antidepressants or serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) as the first treatment. As a second option, doctors think about ibuprofen or lidocaine (lignocaine) cream. For the third treatment, doctors may use stronger opioids if the first two don’t work to get rid of the symptoms.
Nociceptive Pain
When tissues are damaged, they feel pain. Because of their roots, these pains can be caused by a number of things, including burns or cuts, broken bones, muscle pain from stress or doing the same thing over and over, joint pain from arthritis or sprains. Managing nociceptive pain can include a number of different treatments, such as:
- Over-the-counter drugs
- Prescription drugs like opioids and antidepressants
- Surgery
- Acupuncture and medical procedures
Functional Ache
Pain that isn’t caused by an accident or damage to the body is called functional pain. People who are in pain may have other signs and be unable to do things because of the pain. The following are some possible reasons for functional pain:
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic chest painΒ
- Temporomandibular disorder
There is also evidence that people who are going through mental distress, like from stress or traumatic events in their lives, may also feel functional pain. People who have fibromyalgia or IBS may be able to get better pain relief and a better quality of life from a pain management doctor.
Differentiated Treatment
People who are in pain may start by seeing their primary care doctor and getting basic pain drugs and physical therapy. On the other hand, you will be sent to a pain management doctor for more advanced pain care. Pain management doctors know how to help you in a step-by-step way.
Medications and injections that dull pain are the first line of treatment. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators (TENS) may also be used. These are machines that use pads on the skin to send low-voltage electricity to painful places.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or viscosupplementation are examples of advanced techniques used in second-line treatment. Hot or acidic substances are put on a nerve during RFA to block pain messages. People who have long-term pain problems, like arthritis in the back, use it. Viscosupplementation is the process of injecting a lubricating fluid into the joints to help with arthritis pain. At this point, the doctor may also give you stronger drugs.
A device with a pain pump or a spinal cord stimulator is the third type of treatment. These methods work to ease pain in the spinal cord, which is where the body’s pain sensors are located. Another choice at this point is regenerative (stem cell) treatment.
Journal Your Pain
Writing down how much pain you’re in each day can help you keep track. Besides that, it helps you talk to your doctor better. Note how often and how your discomfort prevents sleep, work, and hobbies. It will help you identify pain triggers (stress, sleep, and food). In the pain journal, you can use a 0β10 scale to rate your pain. A lot of doctors for pain management use this rating scale to figure out how much pain someone is in.
- 0: You don’t feel pain.
- 1-3: You’re in pain all the time.
- 4-6: You have mild pain that makes it hard to do daily things. work and hobbies.
- 7β10: You’re in a lot of pain that makes it impossible for you to do normal things.
Keeping a journal can help you keep track of your feelings and let others know if you are depressed, nervous, or having trouble sleeping. These states might be brought on by pain. To help you, your doctor can offer ways to deal with it or medicines.