What is a pain management clinic?
A pain management clinic can help pain patients manage their pain better. A pain clinic offers comprehensive care, usually provided by multiple providers working together as one team. As a result, patients receive individualized attention throughout the process rather than being shuffled between various practitioners. In addition to treating acute pain, such clinics also provide physical therapy, counseling, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation. They offer education programs, too, so patients learn how to cope with their condition.
How does pain management work?
One concentrates on techniques for treating specific types of pain, such as neck and back pain. These clinics can help you manage pain using physical, behavioral, and psychological therapy in addition to medicines.
Pain physicians also teach you about your pain, coach you on lifestyle changes, and offer complementary or alternative medicine. According to studies, patients treated in pain clinics had better outcomes than those treated in primary care settings. And some studies suggest that there might even be long-term benefits if you get good results early on.
But don’t expect miracles right away. It might be months before you see any changes.
What should you expect from a pain management appointment?
Your healthcare provider will ask you about the type, location, intensity, and duration of your pain. They may also want to know your medical history and the symptoms of your pain. Your pain management specialist will then perform an initial evaluation and diagnostic tests to determine the best treatment for the pain you are experiencing.
Do pain management doctors conduct a drug test on your first visit?
Pain doctors must take extra vigilance due to the prevalence of prescription medication misuse these days. They risk losing their medical license and risking criminal charges if they prescribe restricted medicines to patients who misuse them or sell them to others. As a result, specific agreements are created to safeguard the parties’ interests.
At any moment, you may be subject to drug testing. A pain doctor generally includes this requirement before beginning a pain management process to avoid misusing the drugs. They also want to make sure you’re the only one on the medication. As a consequence, doctors randomly screen you and then calculate the number of drugs in your system.
If you have any concerns regarding required initial drug testing, don’t hesitate to contact your trusted pain management clinic in Arizona. They will be more than happy to guide you through the entire process.
Kinds of Pain that Doctors Treat in Pain Management Clinics
There are three kinds of pain that a pain management doctor can treat. The first pain is usually a soft tissue injury such as sprains and strains. Nerve damage or a nervous system illness, such as a stroke, causes the second sort of pain. Back pain, for example, is a combination of tissue and nerve damage.
Soft Tissue Injury
Soft tissue injuries occur when the muscles, tendons, or ligaments of the body are injured. These injuries can develop suddenly — for example, spraining an ankle by stepping too quickly. Several people get soft tissue injuries when they give their muscles enough time to heal after an exercise and continue with a higher intensity regimen. The forces involved may be injured or strained as a result of this behavior. Soft-tissue injuries include sprains, strains, and contusions, as well as tendinitis and bursitis. Even with the proper support, these injuries can take a long time to recover from.
Nerve Pain
Nerve pain is typically described as piercing, stabbing, scorching or excruciating pain. It may be as intense and abrupt as an electric shock at times. People with neuropathic pain are frequently susceptible to touch or cold, and they might suffer pain even from stimuli that aren’t ordinarily unpleasant, such as brushing their skin. Multiple sclerosis, HIV, shingles, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and its treatment with radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy, and trapped nerves can all cause nerve pain.
Nerve and Tissue Damage
Pain patients complain of back pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain wherein the injured parts are the nerves and the tissues. This is a combination of both pain, and this type of pain may need essential pain medications to help relieve pain and a physical approach to pain management. This depends on the pain management treatment plan that will be recommended.
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Tips to Remember When Booking Your First Pain Management Appointment
Make An Appointment
To schedule an appointment with our team of board-certified physicians, call us today! Our pain management doctors are trained to treat patients who have suffered from injuries that cause persistent pain. They can help improve range of motion, strength, balance, coordination, posture, flexibility, endurance, and more. In no time, you will be back to your daily activities.
Bring Your IDs and anything that may be useful for your initial appointment
When scheduling your first visit, please ensure that you bring along your insurance card, identification, and imaging results. If you don’t have these documents ready when you arrive, they will be sent to us after your appointment so that we can complete them before your next scheduled visit.
In addition, we ask that you also bring your current prescription medications and any other medication that you take regularly. We want to review everything before beginning your pain program.
Personalized Treatment Plan of Care in Your Initial Evaluation
After reviewing your paperwork, your pain management doctor will discuss your diagnosis, current medications, past treatments, and other pertinent details regarding your condition. This helps us determine which type of therapy would best suit your needs.
Next, we’ll go over your goals and expectations during this evaluation visit. These include discussing when you’d like to start seeing results, whether you’re interested in using opioids, nonopioids, or both, and what types of therapies you may benefit from.
Prescriptions and Procedures
After reviewing your history, symptoms, and imaging results, your physician may prescribe medications or procedures based on their findings.
For example, if your MRI shows nerve compression from scar tissue around your spine, your physician might suggest injections into the area to break up the scarring and relieve pressure on nerves.
In addition, some patients benefit from having surgery performed by a surgeon who specializes in treating back conditions.
Most Frequently Asked Questions on Pain Management
Will I get treated in a pain management clinic on my first visit?
Patients are sometimes treated on their first visit. On the other hand, most patients will be booked for their operation after completing the necessary preparation. As part of a team approach to a complete care plan, Stridewell’s pain management strategy includes consultation with the patient’s primary care physician and specialists. This is the start of your journey to pain relief.
What happens during the initial pain management consultation?
A pain management physician will take your medical history, do a physical examination, and go through any test or X-ray results with you. Then, based on your assessment, your doctor will create a personalized pain treatment plan for you. This initial consultation is crucial since a thorough, and thorough examination is essential for establishing your personalized treatment plan.
Should I go to my pain management appointment by myself?
You may be required to have someone during your initial and following sessions, depending on your circumstances. For example, many car accident injuries can result in severe pain, numbness, paralysis, or loss of position awareness, which may need additional assistance.
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