What Is Pain Medicine And Pain Management?

Pain management, pain medicine, and pain control are all terms used to describe a specific branch of medicine. Specialists with this focus employ an interdisciplinary approach to treatment, using multiple care techniques to help people improve their quality of life and address chronic, painful symptoms.

Why Might Advanced Pain Management And Medical Care Be Needed?

Pain relief in the form of pain management becomes necessary when people begin struggling with chronic pain. Normally, our pain goes away as we recover from an injury or condition. In some cases, however, the body continues to send pain signals to your brain, even after a pain source heals. 

In other cases still, people experience chronic pain without any prior injury. While not well understood, experts know that this pain often results from an underlying health condition. Examples of triggering conditions include endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Any pain that lasts at least 12 weeks is known as chronic pain. This chronic pain can limit a person's mobility, as well as reduce flexibility, strength, and endurance.

What Are Examples Of Common Chronic Pain Points?

Some of the most common types of chronic pain include:

• headache
• post-surgical pain
• post-trauma pain
• lower back pain
• neck pain
• cancer pain
• arthritis pain
• neurogenic pain (pain caused by nerve damage)
• psychogenic pain (pain that isn’t caused by disease, injury, or nerve damage)

How Does A Pain Management Specialist Provide Pain Relief?

Pain specialists aim to help patients by reducing their pain and boosting their mobility, allowing people to return to their lives with minimal discomfort. Because every person's condition and pain levels are different, doctors always create comprehensive pain management plans that are specific to each person. Medical treatments, lifestyle remedies, interventional procedures, or a combination of these methods may be used to treat your chronic pain.

What Are Interventional Procedures?

Interventional pain management is a treatment method that utilizes pain blocking techniques meant to make make day-to-day activities less difficult. Examples of this type of pain management include:

• Nerve Block - an injection to decrease inflammation or "turn off" a specific nerve-based pain signal
• Epidural - corticosteroid injections which are used to decrease pain and inflammation caused by a herniated disc, sciatica, or spinal stenosis
• Rhizotomy - a surgical procedure to sever nerve roots in the spinal cord, relieving chronic back pain and muscle spasms.
• Implants - an implanted device that uses low levels of electricity to relieve pain

What Should I Expect From A Visit With Your Team?

Premier Medical Associates, an affiliate of the Allegheny Health Network, is the largest multi-specialty physician practice in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Our pain management specialists focus on easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those living with pain.

Because every case of pain is different, and because patients respond to all treatments differently, every case we oversee will be handled as needed. Pain management programs will also be highly customized to include the right combination of pharmacological or interventional procedures.

Our pain management services are available by appointment at One Monroeville Center office.