If you’ve been experiencing chronic pain, you might have been referred to a pain management doctor. However, this can often be confusing. After all, can’t your regular doctor write a prescription or give you exercises for your pain?
Pain management doctors are highly specialized professionals who are much more experienced in handling chronic pain than regular doctors. Read on to answer the question “What does a pain management doctor do” — specifically, how they can help treat chronic pain.
What Does a Pain Management Doctor Do?
Pain management doctors help pretty much exactly how you’d expect them to: They help treat and manage their patients’ pain. The ultimate goal of any pain management doctor in Bartlesville is to help their patients achieve a better quality of life.
But what does a pain management doctor do that’s different from other types of doctors? Let’s define pain management.
What Is Pain Management?
Pain management is a field of medicine that focuses on reducing pain and improving a person’s overall quality of life. Pain management specialists take a holistic approach to address the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of pain. The goal is not always to eliminate pain entirely but to make it manageable, helping patients get back to the activities they enjoy.
By identifying the underlying causes of their patient’s pain and understanding how it impacts their lives, pain management professionals can create treatment plans that change as the patient’s needs change. Overall, these doctors focus on restoring functionality, supporting independence, and helping patients regain control over their health.
Responsibilities of Pain Management Doctors
A pain management doctor’s primary responsibility is diagnosing the source of pain through detailed evaluations, including medical history reviews, physical exams, and diagnostic tests.
Based on what they find, they’ll design a personalized treatment plan tailored to their patient’s specific needs and conditions. These plans may include medications, therapies, or interventional procedures.
They’ll likely also schedule multiple follow-up visits to monitor the treatment, ensuring the approach remains effective and adjusting it as needed to optimize results. Pain management doctors also educate patients about how to manage their pain at home, as well as how to improve mobility, quality of life, and general well-being.
What Types of Pain Do They Treat?
Pain management doctors treat both acute and chronic pain. Acute pain is temporary and is often caused by surgery or injury, such as a broken bone.
Chronic pain, on the other hand, can last for months or even years and can be caused by conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, or nerve damage. Pain management specialists address many different types of pain, including back pain, migraines, cancer-related pain, and neuropathy.
What Education Do Pain Management Doctors Have?
Becoming a pain management doctor requires extensive education and specialized training. It begins with earning a bachelor’s degree, followed by completing medical school to obtain an MD or DO degree.
Afterward, aspiring pain management doctors participate in a residency program, typically in a field like anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), or neurology. These specialties provide the foundational knowledge the doctors use during their careers.
Following residency, a one-year fellowship in pain medicine is required. During this fellowship, doctors gain experience diagnosing and treating various pain conditions, as well as advanced training in interventional procedures, such as nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, and epidural injections.
Pain management doctors must also obtain board certification in their primary specialty, and many opt to complete a subspecialty certification in pain medicine. This training takes about 11 years to complete.
How Do Pain Management Doctors Diagnose Pain?
Before a pain management doctor can treat your pain, they first need to understand what’s causing it. If you don’t already know the reason for your pain, the first step a doctor typically takes is to diagnose the root cause.
These are a few methods used to diagnose pain:
Initial Evaluation
The diagnostic process begins with an initial evaluation where a Stillwater pain management doctor reviews your medical history. They’ll ask questions to gather detailed information about your pain’s onset, duration, intensity, and triggers. Depending on the type of pain, they may conduct a physical exam to assess movement, strength, and areas of tenderness or sensitivity.
Diagnostic Tools
Advanced diagnostic tools are usually the next step in pinpointing the source of pain. Imaging studies, such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans, can help identify structural issues like fractures, herniated discs, or arthritis.
Meanwhile, nerve conduction studies can help diagnose conditions like neuropathy, while lab tests may detect inflammation or underlying diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. In some cases, this may be all a doctor needs to diagnose a patient.
Holistic Assessment
Pain management doctors consider psychological and lifestyle factors that may be contributing to the pain, such as stress, anxiety, or poor posture. They may refer you to a neurologist, orthopedic surgeon, or psychologist to help them come to an accurate diagnosis.
How Do Pain Management Doctors Treat Pain?
Many doctors start with medications to help their patients feel comfortable, but there are other tools they can use to help treat the root cause of their patient’s pain.
Read on for a full breakdown.
1. Medications
Pain management specialists often use medications as part of a comprehensive approach to alleviate pain and improve functionality. Commonly prescribed pain medications include the following:
- Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: These reduce swelling and relieve mild to moderate pain.
- Muscle Relaxants: These are often used to address muscle spasms and tension.
- Opioids: These may be prescribed for severe and chronic pain, but they are carefully controlled to minimize risks of dependency.
2. Interventional Procedures
It’s common for pain management specialists to combine medication with interventional procedures to provide targeted pain relief that’s as minimally invasive as possible. Epidural steroid injections are one option that’s commonly used to reduce inflammation and pain in conditions like herniated discs or spinal stenosis.
Meanwhile, nerve blocks and trigger point injections deliver anesthetics or anti-inflammatory agents to specific nerves or muscles with the goal of interrupting pain signals. For chronic pain, radiofrequency ablation can destroy the nerve fibers that transmit pain signals. Spinal cord stimulation is another option that involves implanting a device that sends mild electrical pulses to disrupt pain signals before they reach the brain.
3. Physical Therapy
Pain management specialists often collaborate with physical therapists to provide a comprehensive approach to treating pain. Some may refer patients to outside physical therapy providers, while others have their own in-house therapy programs.
Physical therapy focuses on restoring mobility, strength, and function while reducing pain. Some exercises you may be given include stretching, posture correction, and manual therapy to improve flexibility and muscle tone. Physical therapists also educate patients on ergonomics and body mechanics to keep them from getting injured or putting strain on their bodies.
4. Complementary Therapies
In some cases, your doctor may also recommend alternative therapies to help complement their treatments and address pain holistically. These therapies can help further reduce pain, improve function, and support your overall quality of life.
Therapies your doctor may recommend may include:
- Acupuncture: is believed to stimulate nerves and muscles, releasing natural pain-relieving chemicals.
- Mindfulness: Reduces stress and improves pain perception through relaxation techniques.
- Chiropractic Care: Aligns the spine to relieve pressure and improve nerve function.
- Nutrition: Addresses inflammation and supports health with a balanced diet.
- Massage Therapy: Relaxes muscles, improves circulation, and reduces tension.
- Mental Health Counseling: Manages emotional aspects of pain, such as anxiety or depression.
- Biofeedback: Teaches control of physiological responses, like muscle tension, to alleviate pain.
5. Surgical Procedures
Pain management doctors typically recommend surgery only as a last resort. Surgery may be considered for conditions like severe spinal disorders, joint degeneration, or nerve damage that do not respond to anything else. If your doctor recommends surgery, your surgeon can collaborate with your pain specialists to make sure the procedure is necessary before moving forward.
What To Expect From Your First Pain Management Visit
Before your first pain management visit, it’s helpful to prepare by gathering medical records, including imaging studies and any previous treatment information. You can also keep a pain journal for several days to help your Tulsa pain management doctor learn more about your pain patterns, triggers, and relief methods. Also, prepare a list of questions to ask, such as potential treatment options and side effects.
During the appointment, your doctor will ask some questions to help identify your goals for pain management. The doctor should also set realistic expectations, explaining that pain management is often a gradual process. Together, you can come up with a plan that helps you meet your goals in a way you’re on board with.
The Bottom Line: What Does a Pain Management Doctor Do
Pain management doctors are highly qualified practitioners who have gone through extra training in pain management. These professionals can use medications, procedures, and complementary therapies to help address the root cause of your pain and improve your quality of life.
At Oklahoma Interventional Spine & Pain, we have multiple tools at our disposal to help our patients feel comfortable and healthy. To learn how we can help you manage your chronic pain and get back to the activities you enjoy, schedule an appointment today.
Sources:
Chronic Pain and Mental Health | Mental Health America
Peripheral neuropathy – Symptoms and causes | Mayo Clinic
Pain Management: Treatments for Pain Relief Including OTC & Prescription Medications | WebMD