Understanding Pain Management: What Does Your Body Need?

It’s holistic. It’s patient-centric. It’s more effective than anything else you’ve tried. 

It’s pain management. 

You might be thinking, “That’s not a real thing.” But it is! And we’re so glad to offer it to you at all of our six South Texas Spinal Clinic locations. 

Now that you know pain management is definitely a bona fide medical speciality, you may be wondering what it actually consists of. Well, the name is pretty self explanatory: Pain management is a branch of medicine with the sole purpose of reducing and eliminating pain, acute and chronic alike. 

Pain management specialists use a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate and treat your pain, making sure to account for all the complex causes and symptoms of your condition. 

What pain management can do for you

Pain management consists of three main goals: 

• Minimize pain
• Improve bodily function
• Increase quality of life 

Unlike some other medical specialties, pain management focuses on your body as a whole and looks at all of your symptoms holistically in order to get to the root cause of your pain. From there, your pain management specialist develops a customized, comprehensive treatment plan. 

Conditions that can benefit from pain management

A lot of times, chronic pain results from events, injuries, or surgeries you had earlier in life. However, that’s not always the case. You may suffer from pain as a symptom of a disease, such as arthritis, or from a neurological condition. Here are a few conditions that a pain management specialist can help you with:

• Neuropathy
• Headaches and migraines
• Low back pain
• Neck pain
• Sciatica 
• Fibromyalgia
• Arthritis pain
• Osteoporosis pain
• Cancer-related pain 

Techniques and methods in pain management

Your pain management treatment plan depends on your particular pain. Your doctor will consider where your pain is strongest, where it originates, what time of day it’s at its worst, and what the pain feels like (dull, shooting, etc.). 

You can expect to learn about many forms of drug-free interventions, such as physical therapy, alternative medicine, nerve blockers, spinal cord stimulators, and steroid injections. But which method your doctor prescribes for you depends on the type of pain you have. For instance, someone with neuropathy might benefit from a spinal cord stimulator, but someone with low back pain might benefit more from physical therapy. 

Together, you and your doctor will discuss potential therapies. 

Am I a good candidate for pain management? 

An expert physician at one of our South Texas Spinal Clinic locations can help you determine if you’re a good candidate for pain management. Generally, you’re a good candidate if you suffer from chronic or recurring pain and don’t have an addiction to any pain medications.

To learn more about pain management, schedule a consultation with one of our providers. You can call any of our offices or book an appointment online.