Back Clinic Chronic Back Pain Team. Chronic back pain has a far-reaching effect on many physiological processes. Dr. Jimenez reveals topics and issues affecting his patients. Understanding the pain is critical to its treatment. So here we begin the process for our patients in the journey of recovery.
Just about everyone feels pain from time to time. When you cut your finger or pull a muscle, pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Once the injury heals, you stop hurting.
Chronic pain is different. Your body keeps hurting weeks, months, or even years after the injury. Doctors often define chronic pain as any pain that lasts for 3 to 6 months or more.
Chronic back pain can have real effects on your day-to-day life and your mental health. But you and your doctor can work together to treat it.
Do call upon us to help you. We do understand the problem that should never be taken lightly.
Chronic pain can pose many problems. Traditional medicine delivers a broad selection of treatment options, some more powerful than others. And these choices have a wide spectrum of benefits which may not always be best for everyone.
Should you consider alternative treatments for chronic pain?
There are a variety of traditional medicine treatments and procedures for treating chronic pain. For many pain management specialists, treatment may include steroid injections to decrease inflammation. For others, treatment might suggest procedures, such as narcotics, drugs or medications, to reduce the pain signals.
But, these remedies are only designed to temporarily relieve the symptom of pain. You must return again in a couple of weeks for one more prescription or shot refill. While these remedies can be effective at pain management,they also carry effects that can display as adverse effects to the patient
Common pain control drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone are known to have long-term unwanted side effects. Most commonly we think of this extremely addictive nature of the drugs, and our body becomes determined by the drugs to operate without pain. Research has also confirmed the cost that these drugs take in your liver and endocrine system. Levels are disrupted that can start a domino effect that disrupts you mood, metabolism, sleep, and sexual role, among other things. When these types of treatments are not preferred, other treatments should be considered.
How Functional Medicine Differs from Traditional Medicine
Functional medicine has proven tremendously effective at combating chronic pain because of its main focus: Concentrate on the underlying cause, instead of just masking the symptom.
When using medications to dull or numb pain, effectively you are disrupting the signals being transmitted to your brain so that your brain doesn’t feel the pain. But instead of numbing the pain, functional medicine focuses first on determining the source of the individual’s painful symptoms.
Functional Medicine doctors work with patients everyday who deal with chronic pain on a regular basis. Many of these patients believed that they would devote the rest of their lives on tablets and injections and surgical processes to temporarily alleviate the pain. When it is a patient who’s dealing with arthritis, that is truly an autoimmune illness, or somebody who is recovering from an auto accident and has been through numerous surgeries, functional medicine includes a regimen of non-invasive treatments that heal you from the inside out.
At precisely the exact same time, it has been recognized that there’s a time and place for more advanced medical care that may require invasive processes. This should not be your first plan of action.
Allow qualified and experienced healthcare professionals to design a customized program that unites their foundational understanding of chiropractic care together with the quickly-developing research behind functional medicine. Understanding how your system integrates with other body systems is the secret so that you can simply live pain free, breaking free from the cycle of chronic pain and find proper pain management treatments.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
According to the American College of Preventive Medicine, most chronic diseases are preventable and reversible if a comprehensive, individualized approach that addresses genetics, diet, stress, physical activity, and sleep is implemented through integrated functional medicine teams and based on empirical research.
What are the functional medicine treatment approaches?
In this way, health is perceived as more than the absence of illness, just as illness is more than the absence of health.�In order for the body to live up to this principle, it needs to be supplied with the necessary nutrients through a healthy diet, adequate sleep, movement/exercise, and management of stress.
Functional Medicine Approach #1 – A Elimination Diet
Remember that every time someone eats, that changes body chemistry. A functional medicine clinic often guides patients to implement a modified removal diet. Patients are educated to remove certain foods from their diet, such as those containing gluten or dairy, and are encouraged to adjust (increase) the consumption of fruits and vegetables that encompass every color of the rainbow. Patients are advised to remove all added sugars. This practice is often difficult for people; therefore, the FM team must work to encourage their compliance with the elimination diet.
Utilization of an elimination diet requires a patient to remove the most frequent causes of food sensitivity (milk, gluten, high saturated fats, highly processed foods) while tracking clinical symptoms to see if there’s an improvement. In addition, patients are advised to eat protein, healthy fats, nuts and seeds, beans, and beverages to support a more anti-inflammatory way of life. Whenever possible, we urge that individuals select meats that are wild-caught organic, and grass-fed. Basically, patients are directed to consume only “actual” food, not processed.
Patients are advised to follow this diet for 3 months (detoxification period) and log any changes that exist within their physique. Patients are taught to read and understand food labels, to ask questions of restaurants and manufacturers, and to ask their healthcare staff about any food ingredients of concern. At the end of 3 weeks, patients are given the choice to keep with the outlined diet or to go back to their dietary lifestyle.
Functional Medicine Approach #2 – Physical Exercise
The focus then is to review the individual’s improvement on her or his detoxification procedure during the elimination diet. Patients are encouraged to raise questions about any foods that they avoid, or need to have more or less of, add, or refrain from eating. Assessing a patient’s food logs, and directing the steps every patient plans to take with respect to dietary alterations during the week can further help achieve this.
This process is further eased using mindfulness eating techniques. Mindfulness is an exercise in consciousness, or only noticing. We believe that mindfulness is the basis that has been missing for a lot of people, and is the key to helping them conquer food cravings, addictive eating, binge eating, emotional eating, and stress eating, as well as immunity to or limits in their physical activity plan. This technique is also helpful in different aspects such as stress and sleep.
The objective of mindfulness is not to alter anything so much as to allow the mind to go where it wants, and also to be aware if it wanders. Being mindful entails the capacity to detect one’s ideas and sensations (eg, taste, smell, preferences). The aim of mindfulness is to raise patients’ awareness of feelings, their own body functions, and ideas.
The second pillar focuses on physical exercise. Physical exercise is any activity that includes stretching, strengthening, cardiovascular health, or other exercises, and enhances or preserves physical fitness and general wellness and health. In this session, we emphasize the need for strength knowing that aerobic exercises are generally promoted. Strengthening exercises work on muscles to help give equilibrium that is physical and added strength. Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercises may include walking, biking, and swimming, and needs to be carried out regularly for at least 30 minutes each or according to the person’s tolerance levels.
When working with people with chronic pain, it is important to adjust an exercise program to accomodate the patient’s requirements and capacities. While others could be stiff or sore, many chronic pain patients are deconditioned. Some people are prone to pushing though some could be preoccupied with dread of pain which causes an avoidance of the action altogether to complete a job. Often, people wait for a “great day” to finish rigorous activity. A cycle of overactivity can happen on a recurring basis and cause unwanted effects, such as injury or re-injury.
During this particular session, patients receive instruction on time-based actions to help them pace themselves while completing daily tasks. In pacing, time provides the guide for activity participation, instead of the feeling of pain. To put it differently, patients must measure the amount of time that they could engage before sensing pain, instead of waiting to grow to signal them to stop. Pacing helps to keep a consistent action level over time, which can be rehabilitative and involves taking breaks.
Functional Medicine Approach #3 – Sleep Hygiene
In the third session, the supplier starts with a review to assess a patient’s progress toward his or her personal objectives. The focus would be to introduce education about the psychology of proper sleep hygiene and stress control. Many patients that suffer with chronic pain normally have unsatisfactory or poor sleep patterns.
During this particular session, patients are educated about sleeping influencers and are invited to make changes to some element that may be impeding sleep in a negative way. Providers may also suggest stimulation control and provide guidance designed to associate bedtime with all the rapid onset of sleep and also to establish a normal sleep-wake schedule that’s consistent with the person’s circadian sleep cycle.
The psychologist and individual also identify any psychological issues and stressors that may exert a negative impact on sleep. Patients are taught to use relaxation techniques to help reduce anxiety and initiate sleep and are directed through a progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) workout which can be employed at home to promote sound sleep. PMR is a method which will help reduce muscle tension by alternately tensing and relaxing the muscles. PMR entails a physical and mental component. The component involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups, whereas the mental component focuses on differentiating between feelings of anxiety and relaxation. With exercise, the patient learns how to effectively introduce relaxation to attain a decrease in muscle strain, which reduce stress as well as enhance sleep.
Functional Medicine Approach #4 – Stress Management
The group therapy protocol concludes from the fourth semester with a concise overview of important topics in the previous sessions, with an emphasis on progress made toward human goals, problem-solving against some barriers to treatment recommendations, and encouraging each player to make personal goals for posttreatment.
Patients are challenged to maintain their diet regime going ahead or opt to reintroduce foods back into their diets. Patients who opt to incorporate back foods are encouraged to include select foods, one at a time, each for one day. Patients are taught to integrate the food back into the diet if no detectable symptoms or sensitivity reactions happen.
This consideration is presented to reinforce the notion that incorporating back foods might come in the resurfacing of symptoms that were removed or greatly diminished when certain foods were removed from the diet, allowing the individual to create a decision regarding his or her priorities according to her or his level of commitment. Although this can be a 4-session application, patients are also encouraged to create follow-up appointments for individual consultation visits to explore targeted concerns and requirements. The goal of the program is to educate and support self-care for the length of the program, but also for a lifetime, not only among chronic pain sufferers.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
Functional Medicine can help with according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, chronic diseases and ailments, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type two diabetes, obesity, and arthritis, are the most common, expensive, and preventable of all health problems. The prevalence of chronic pain is higher than that of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined.
What is the prevalence of chronic pain?
In the USA, 86% of all healthcare spending in 2010 has been directed at people with one or more chronic ailments. Alarming projections indicate future generations may have shorter, less healthy lifestyles, and health care costs are estimated to grow to $4.153 trillion. Behaviours, such as being inadequate nutrition, sedentary, tobacco use, and alcohol intake, lead to much of distress, this illness, and death linked to chronic diseases and ailments.
According to the American College of Preventive Medicine, many chronic diseases are preventable and reversible in the event a comprehensive, individualized strategy that addresses genetics, diet, stress, physical activity, and sleep is executed through integrated functional medicine teams and based on empirical research. Health is perceived as more than just as illness is greater than the lack of health in the person’s body.
What’s Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine (FM) addresses the underlying causes of illness, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both practitioner and patient at a healing partnership. The practitioner can support the healing process by viewing illness and health as part of a cycle, all components of the biological system interact dynamically with the surroundings by changing the attention of clinic to a patient-centered approach. Functional medicine also takes as its focus, one relationship: the sacred trust between the person and the doctor who chooses to be the patient of the provider. Functional medicine is further directed by 6 core fundamentals:
Recognizing the biochemical individuality of every Individual, based on the theories of genetics and environmental influence
Emphasis on a patient-centered rather than a disease-centered approach to remedy
Trying to find a dynamic equilibrium among the internal and external experiences
Familiarity with the intricate relations of internal physiological things
Identification of health as a positive vitality, not merely the absence of disorder
Promotion of organ preservation because the capacity to enhance the well-being span, not only the lifespan of every individual. The role of professionals would be to spend time listening to their histories and taking a look at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that could influence complicated and long-term health disease, such as chronic pain. Experiences can result in the upkeep of chronic pain, exercise, diet, thoughts, feelings, and environmental consequences.
Science has given support to what may be known unconsciously, how we live, the quality of our relationships, how the food that we eat, and how we use our own bodies, have a much bigger effect than genetics ever will. By fixing these poor habits, in other words, pain is treated by functional medicine. This is also a basic principle of health. Functioning correctly, FM helps practitioners treat patients, to prevent, and cure chronic conditions efficiently and at lower cost compared to traditional medical paradigm.
The “I” in disease underlines how disease affects the body or thoughts of the individual, and also the “w” in health leads us to work together to attain a condition of being in great physical and psychological health. Thus, the approach into the management of pain is delivered in a group format. The group therapy protocol includes 4 sessions which are approximately 60 to 75 minutes each in duration. The treatment team consists of a dietitian an osteopath doctor, and a health psychologist. Patients are coached to modify their surroundings and live an anti inflammatory lifestyle through 4 important pillars: 1) diet, 2) exercise, 3) stress control( and 4) sleep hygiene.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away. Unlike acute pain, that comes on suddenly and can usually be traced directly to a cause, chronic pain lingers and it isn’t easy to tell what is causing it. That is the situation that millions of chronic pain sufferers have been in: there’s no reason as to why they have persistent pain.
In actuality, chronic pain in itself can be considered a disease or illness. Most times, pain is a symptom of another illness or problem. If pain becomes persistent, though, it isn’t just a sign of a problem, it is the issue.
What can you do about chronic pain?
One typically accepted definition of chronic pain is pain that still remains, even when the related injury or disease has been healed. It’s pain that persists 6 months or longer after the associated injury or disease has been managed. Chronic pain not only affects the body physically, it can also affect the mind.
Psychologists and Chronic Pain
Being referred to a psychologist as part of the chronic pain treatment plan does not necessarily mean your doctor thinks that your pain is only mental. If your doctor refers you it usually means that they are well-aware of the effects pain can have on the mind. It means that the healthcare professional is currently taking a multi-disciplinary strategy to your pain, one which may comprise of psychology, physical therapy, and medications, for example. Since chronic pain is a condition that is multi-faceted, it needs a multi-faceted therapy plan.
A Psychologist’s Role
Chronic pain does involve an emotional component. Back in 1979, the International Association for the Study of Pain redefined pain. They said that it’s a “sensory and emotional experience. ” A translation: pain has physical and emotional sides, and it exists even if there is no identifiable cause. In other words, the pain simply exists because the individual feels (or thinks he or she feels) it. Persistent pain can have a psychological toll on an individual’s life. The following list of ideas aren’t atypical for a chronic pain patient to have when dealing with the painful symptoms.
I can not work since I am in so much pain, so I am worthless for my loved ones.
I do not even feel like myself anymore since my whole life revolves round this annoyance.
I’m so lonely and isolated because no one understands my pain.
I’m whining too much about my annoyance, I’m such a weakling! I must just put on a happy face.
I can’t even do the simplest tasks anymore. I’m a failure.
With thoughts such as that dominating your mind, it can be difficult to fully deal with your pain. The psychological aspect can still make you feel trapped with the pain, although you might be taking actions to take care of the physical elements of your pain. A psychologist can help you deal with the psychological impact of chronic pain.
Utilizing behavioral treatment techniques, a psychologist can help you identify and change negative thoughts, ideas that can aggravate your pain. The psychologist can help you cope with anxiety, any depression, or other mood disorders related to chronic pain. What happens in sessions with your psychologist is left up to you, but it’s a time to be completely and totally truthful about how chronic pain is affecting your ideas, relationships, career, and self-esteem. The main goal is to help you live your life fully, restoring your overall health and wellness, mentally.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
Many Americans in the United States will visit a healthcare professional’s office reporting some type of pain. While most cases of pain are considered acute, or temporary, resolving after the injury or condition causing the symptoms has healed, a large percentage of individuals will still report pain long after the source has disappeared. This is known as chronic pain. Fortunately, there are a variety of treatment methods which can also help ease these symptoms.
Are injections used to treat chronic pain?
From physical therapy and chiropractic care, to drugs and medications, numerous types of treatment methods and therapies can be used to treat chronic pain, each more beneficial to certain people than others. Epidural steroid injections and facet joint injections are some of the most common types of injections utilized to ease chronic pain symptoms. For some individuals, injections may be more useful than other forms of treatment. As with any medical procedure, however, it’s important to understand how helpful these can be for each, individual patient.
Epidural Corticosteroid Injections for Chronic Pain
Although epidural steroid injections (also called epidural corticosteroid injections) can be helpful to confirm a diagnosis, they should be used primarily after a specific presumptive diagnosis has been established. Additionally, injections shouldn’t be used in isolation, but rather in combination with a program strengthening, stressing muscle flexibility, and operational recovery, most commonly associated with chronic pain, in this case.
Appropriate follow-up after shots to rate ability and the individual’s treatment response to progress in the rehabilitation program is indispensable. Observation of this response is necessary prior to a second or third shot, although a number of injections can be attempted to decrease pain. Epidural steroid injections are an adjunct treatment, which facilitates participation in an active exercise program and may assist in avoiding the need for surgical intervention.
Treatment Rationale
The rationale for the use of epidural corticosteroid injection has enhanced with the signs of an inflammatory basis for radicular pain from disc herniation. Although prospective trials are lacking, epidural steroids have been proven to be effective in pain reduction in patients with referred pain. If used in the initial weeks after onset the efficacy is increased.
The goal of these injections would be to facilitate an active exercise program and also to progress sufferers through the pain and inflammation phase of healing as quickly as possible. As with all injections, it needs to be a part of a comprehensive treatment plan involving active exercise programs.
How the Injection Is Applied
To ensure proper needle placement of corticosteroids, fluoroscopic guidance is recommended. Meaning a healthcare professional will use special imaging gear during the injection to be sure the needle is going in at the right place. Some patients may require more than one injection. Repeat shots should be based on goals and the response after the injection. It is not necessary for many patients to experience a set number or “series” of injections. If minimal to no advancement is found following two shots, then further similar shots aren’t warranted. The recent usage of the approach allows the medicine to be delivered in a fashion to the ventral part of the spinal canal. All patients must be followed by consecutive injections (10-14 days later) to assess therapeutic reaction.
Utilization of Epidural Steroid Injections
Epidural shots and intradiscal injections have been used in treating non-radicular degenerative disc disorder with limited success. In addition, epidural steroids are used in patients with neurogenic claudication from spinal stenosis with mixed outcomes. A number of shots can be tried to decrease pain thought to be at least in part mediated by inflammation.
Facet Joint Injections for Chronic Pain
The therapeutic advantage of facet injections remains controversial. The controversy starts with the significance of the background and examination with lower back pain. Many patients will complain of back and lower extremity pain with standing, walking, and extension-type pursuits. The examination is normal, and also tests for nerve root inflammation are often negative. Many patients may have increased pain on passive expansion, or extension and rotation.
Additionally, radiographic and bone scanning imaging hasn’t been useful in selecting appropriate patients for facet injections. Consequently, the primary job of facet injections remains diagnostic. There is support for the impact of shots or ablations of the nerves. Facet injections should be used for patients who have failed a guided non-operative treatment program that incorporates various manipulation/mobilization methods. They should be done under fluoroscopic guidance and are not suggested in the initial four to six weeks of treatment.
Goal of Facet Joint Injections
The goal of facet injections is to verify the diagnosis and perhaps assist with pain reduction to be able to alleviate an active physical treatment program. If prior injections were helpful and there’s a recurrence of pain, they can be replicated replicate injections should be limited. This process should be used only in people failing a comprehensive application and in no manner should be considered at the initial management of an incident of acute low back pain.
Be sure to seek the proper guidance from an experienced and qualified healthcare professional before attempting any medical procedure, method or therapy. Injections for chronic pain are only one form of treatment used for the mentioned symptoms. Other treatment options can be used alongside these or in place of the above.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
Chronic pain is known as pain that persists for 12 weeks or even longer, even after pain is no longer acute (short-term, acute pain) or the injury has healed. Of course there are many causes of chronic pain that can influence any level of the spine, cervical (neck), mid back (thoracic), lower spine (lumbar), sacral (sacrum) or some combination of levels.
What treatments do interventional pain management specialists perform?
Oftentimes, early and aggressive therapy of chronic neck or back pain can earn a difference that is life-changing. But remember that knowledge is power: Be certain that you know your choices. There are various treatment procedures and treatments available for chronic pain, each completed by a treatment specialists. Interventional pain management specialist treatments may be a fantastic solution for some people with chronic pain symptoms.
Interventional Pain Management Specialists
Interventional pain management (IPM) is a special field of medicine that uses injections and small processes to help patients control their own chronic pain. Interventional pain management specialists are trained to diagnose and cure ailments, and their goal is to improve patients’ quality of life.
IPM’s Role in Treating Chronic Back Pain
Pain control plays a big role in chronic pain since many forms of pain can’t be cured, so pain victims must find out how to live with and work around the pain. A pain management specialist can help them locate the pain relief that they need to work in the daily. The interventional treatments are part of a multi-disciplinary approach that might include use of medications, psychology, and therapy. Part of IPM is currently finding treatments that works best for your treatment or combination. Some potential interventional pain management therapies are:
Injections
Your interventional pain management expert will have you try injections, which send anti inflammatory medications and strong pain-relieving straight. A few examples of injections used for chronic pain are:
Epidural steroid injection: This is one of the most commonly used injections. An epidural steroid injection (ESI) aims the epidural space, that is the space surrounding the membrane which holds the spinal fluid around the spinal cord and nerve roots. Nerves traveling through the epidural area and then branch out to other parts of your body, like your thighs. When a nerve root is compressed (pinched) from the epidural space, you’ll have pain that travels down your spine and into your legs (commonly called sciatica, even though the technical medical term is radiculopathy). An epidural steroid injection sends steroids right to the nerve root that’s inflamed. You need 2-3 injections; normally, you shouldn’t have that because of the potential side effects of the steroids.
Facet joint injection: Also called facet blocks, facet joint injections are helpful in case your facet joints are causing annoyance. Facet joints in your back allow you to move and provide stability. Though, you will have pain, if they get inflamed. The joint wills numb and can lower your pain.
Sacroiliac joint injection: The joint is where your pelvis and spine come and also an aching sacroiliac joint can be extremely debilitating. The injection may reduce inflammation and pain.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
When affected by chronic pain, an individuals initial concern often involves what type of treatment they should seek for their particular issue. While many doctors are qualified and experienced in treating a variety of injuries and conditions, only some specialists can be classified as pain experts: pain management specialists.
What is a pain management specialist?
Pain medicine or pain management specialists provide varied treatments, including medications, action modification, therapeutic injections, physical therapy, and alternative kinds of care like acupuncture, manipulation, and music or art therapy for chronic pain. Multidisciplinary pain medicine joins two or more treatments to maximize pain management.
Concerning Pain Management Specialists
A pain management specialist is a physician or osteopathic physician who treats pain. Although called interventional pain management specialists or pain medicine specialist, a number of these doctors are physiatrists or anesthesiologists. Pain management and medication treatment is a team effort frequently involving the patient’s primary care doctor or other treating doctor, and specialists in radiology, psychiatry, psychology, oncology, nursing, physical therapy, complimentary alternative medicine, and other fields.
Education and Training
After graduating medical school and finishing a one-year internship, the doctor enters a program in anesthesiology or physical medicine but from different fields such as psychiatry and neurology. Upon completion of a residency program (typically 3 years long), the doctor completes a one-year fellowship for advanced training in pain medicine.
Pain medication specialists are board certified. The associations that board certify physiatrists, anesthesiologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists all collaborate to provide the board examination to the subspecialty of pain medicine. Pain medicine and management specialists keep their education and training throughout their careers. There are many opportunities for pain management specialists to remain current with technical and medical improvements in pain medication, such as society meetings and journals.
Goals of Pain Management
By reducing pain, frequency and intensity, a pain management specialist’s goal is to handle chronic or acute pain. A pain management program can manage your operational goals for activities of daily living besides fixing pain problems. In general, a pain medication program intends to give you a feeling of well-being, increase your level of action (like return to work), and reduce or eliminate your dependence on drugs.
Kinds of Pain Treated
Pain medicine specialists treat all kinds of pain. Intense pain is described as severe or sharp and may signal something isn’t right. The pain experienced during care is an instance of acute pain. Infection lasting more or even 6 months is described as chronic. This kind of pain is persistent and varies from moderate to severe. Spinal arthritis (spondylosis) pain is often chronic. A good outcome is produced by combining different treatments although chronic pain is difficult to manage.
Treatment may include:
Limit activities that increase pain (activity modification)
Prescription medication: Nonsteroidal anti inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, narcotics (opioids), anti-depressants, and antiseizure drugs. Some antiseizure and antidepressant medications have proven to help manage specific types of chronic pain.
Injection therapy: provide pain relief, as well as Injections may help to pinpoint the reason behind pain. Therapies include facet joint anabolic steroid, and joint injections; and nerve rootbranch, peripheral and sympathetic nerve block .
Physical Therapy: Heat/ice, massage, spinal traction, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), ultrasound, and therapeutic practice.
Pulsed Radiofrequency Neurotomy is a minimally invasive procedure that prevents nerves from sending pain signals to the brain.
Rhizotomy utilizes electrodes that are heated to turn off pain signals from nerves that are particular.
Spinal Cord Stimulation is an implanted device that produces electrical impulses to block pain perception.
Intrathecal Pumps are sometimes referred to as pain pumps. The device is surgically implanted and dispenses doses of medication within the spinal tract.
Acupuncture is the insertion of needles to some of 2,000 acupuncture points or the body’s 20 Meridian factors. Acupuncture is central to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes other holistic treatments.
Manipulation is performed by chiropractors, osteopathic doctors (DO), and some physical therapists, even though the treatment varies among these careers. Manipulation is described as the use of force or pressure to take care of a disorder.
Art and music therapy are approaches to distract your mind. Besides a creative outlet, comfort is promoted by these therapies, provide a way for expression, help to reduce anxiety, raises self-esteem, and are fun.
What to Expect During an Appointment
Your consultation with interventional pain management specialist is much like other physician visits. Even though there are a number of similarities, the focus is quickly managing it, and on your pain, the cause or contributing factors.
Pain medication doctors perform a physical and neurological evaluation, and review your medical history paying special attention to pain history. You may be asked many questions about your pain, such as:
On a scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the worse pain possible, speed your pain.
When did pain begin? When pain began what were you doing?
Does pain disperse into different areas of the human body?
Is its intensity continuous, or can it be worse at different times of the night or day?
What helps to relieve the pain? Why is pain worse?
What treatments have you tried? What worked? What failed?
Do you take herbal supplements, vitamins, or over-the-counter medications?
Can you take prescription medication? If so, what, how much, and how?
Most pain medication specialists utilize a standardized drawing of the front/back of the human body to let you indicate where pain is sensed, as well as indicate pain spread and type (eg, gentle, sharp). You may be requested to complete the form each time you stop by the pain physician. The drawing can help to evaluate your treatment progress.
Accurate Diagnosis Key to Remedy
Pain medication involves diagnosing the cause or source of pain. Making the proper diagnosis may entail obtaining an X-ray, CT scan, or MRI study to confirm the cause of your neck or back pain. When treating spine-related pain (which may include leg or arm signs), additional tests, such as discography, bone scans, nerve studies (electromyography, nerve conduction study), and myelography could be carried out. The identification is essential to a successful treatment program.
Some spinal disorders and pain therapy requires involvement including orthopaedic surgeon, neurosurgeon, your primary care doctor, and practitioners in radiology, psychiatry, psychology, oncology, nursing, physical therapy, and complimentary medicine. The pain medicine specialist may consult with and/or consult with spine surgeon or a neurosurgeon to ascertain whether spine surgery is required by your pain issue.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Wellness
Overall health and wellness are essential towards maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating a balanced nutrition as well as exercising and participating in physical activities, to sleeping a healthy amount of time on a regular basis, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way towards helping people become healthy.
IFM's Find A Practitioner tool is the largest referral network in Functional Medicine, created to help patients locate Functional Medicine practitioners anywhere in the world. IFM Certified Practitioners are listed first in the search results, given their extensive education in Functional Medicine
