4 Reasons To Consider A Pain Management Clinic

You may have an old injury or illness that causes chronic pain, and your primary care doctor or a specialist has established a treatment plan. When your current treatment plan is not enough, a pain management clinic is an alternative or adjunctive way of effectively managing pain.

Options For Poorly Managed Pain

Although your primary care doctor or specialist may try to keep your pain under control, you may face a time when your options are limited. With stricter guidelines on the use of narcotic pain medications and a number of commonly prescribed analgesics rescheduled, many doctors are hesitant to prescribe controlled substances and some have erred on the side of caution and stopped altogether.

Other reasons that your pain management options may be limited is that you have a medical condition that limits the type of pain medications you can safely take, or your doctor feels that a pain management clinic can offer options with fewer long-term consequences. For example, inflammatory-based pain may respond well to daily use of corticosteroids. However, some people are not able to titrate off steroids because their adrenal glands stop functioning. Many doctors prefer to avoid long-term corticosteroid use when possible.

Many options that can be effective for managing pain are not available at your doctor's office, or are more affordable for you if performed through a clinic rather than an outpatient center. For example, nerve blocks are used for chronic pain, which can significantly reduce certain types of pain without the extra pain pills, abuse potential and risk of gastrointestinal irritation.

More Monitoring

Chronic pain can reach the point of severity where the use of narcotic pain medications is the only option. If you are concerned about the abuse or addiction potential when using narcotics, but they are the only medication that will help, a pain management clinic can provide better monitoring of your use. Many clinics require their patients to submit to extra monitoring, such as urine testing. Although extra monitoring can be a minor inconvenience, you may feel more secure about using narcotic pain medications if the potential for abuse is causing you to avoid specific medications.

Holistic Medicine

Another component of many pain management clinics is the availability of alternative therapies in conjunction with traditional approaches to pain management. You may find that acupuncture, chiropractic medicine or behavior modification is a helpful addition to your current treatment plan. One popular strategy for managing pain is changing aspects of your diet to determine if there are any foods or beverages that make pain worse.

If you experience pain from inflammation of your muscles or joints, you may find that reducing the amount of dairy, nightshade vegetables or processed foods may decrease the amount of inflammation throughout your body. Although changes in your diet are unlikely to eliminate pain, subtle changes may improve your response to your current treatment. Your pain management team can offer suggestions that may have been successful for other patients.

Comprehensive Services

Pain management is more than a physical problem, there are many emotional components. Many pain management clinics have comprehensive services that can help you with different aspects of pain and your quality of life. When you have chronic pain, it is not uncommon to experience depression, even if it is occasionally. A therapist who specializes in chronic pain can be an invaluable addition to your treatment plan.

Some common issues that you may face with chronic pain are dealing with changes in your body that may limit your activities and make daily tasks difficult. If you face substantial limitations, you may have difficulties coping with changes in independence. Another common problem is the way relationships can change in the face of chronic pain. Your therapist can work with you and other family members to help keep your relationships strong during difficult times.

The services of a pain management clinic are an important addition to your healthcare team. Since the clinic has experience in treating various types of pain, you are more likely to be satisfied with your established treatment plan, and minimize your daily pain. For more information, visit websites like http://www.illinoispain.com.