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Pain Management

Acute pain, which often results from injury, can typically be treated effectively, requiring time-limited therapies to correct the problem. Chronic pain, however, may be caused by problems which are difficult to treat and which in some situations cannot even be identified. Some examples include cancer, fibromyalgia, nerve damage or disease, and pain in one part of the body which actually originates in another part of the body (“referred” pain).

Pain sensors, known as nociceptors, may continue to send pain signals after the originating cause of pain is extinct, and in such conditions, the pain itself becomes the new target of care. This is the goal of Pain Management procedures.

A multidisciplinary approach is usually employed for Pain Management. Pharmacologic treatments include narcotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and antidepressants, all of which must be matched and titrated carefully over time according to both research protocols and the particular needs of each patient. It is especially important to prescribe enough of each medication to "cover" pain symptomatology.

Non-pharmacologic therapies include physical therapy, exercise, acupuncture, ice and/or heat, biofeedback, electrical stimulation, relaxation, conscious recognition of emotion (especially anger), stress management, hypnotherapy, and cognitive therapy.