by Northern Arizona Pain Institutes
Pain management is a branch of medicine that applies science to the reduction of pain. It covers a wide spectrum of conditions including neuropathic pain, sciatica, postoperative pain and more.
Pain management is a rapidly growing medical specialty that takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating all kinds of pain. At Northern Arizona Pain Institutes we put heavy emphasis on in-depth diagnostic evaluations with highly integrated physician teams that take therapeutic approaches to care.
While some types of pain come from primary sources such as headaches and others from secondary sources such as surgery, the field of pain management treats all of it as a disease. This allows for the application of science and the latest advances in medicine to relieve your pain. We have many modalities, including medication management, interventional pain techniques (epidural injections, nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulators and many more), along with physical therapy and alternative medicine to help reduce pain.
Goals of Pain Management
The goal of pain management is to minimize it, rather than eliminate it. This is because quite often it is not possible to completely do away with it. Our doctors and physicians can give the right tools to manage your pain. Two other goals are to improve function and to increase the quality of life. These three goals go hand-in-hand.
As a first-time patient in a pain management clinic, you might experience the following:
- Evaluation
- Diagnostic tests, if necessary, as determined in evaluations
- Referral to a surgeon, if indicated by the tests and evaluations
- Interventional treatments recommended by your physician
- Physical therapy to increase range-of-motion and strength
- Psych evaluations to deal with, anxiety, and/or other issues that may accompany your chronic pain
- Alternative medicine to provide a complement to your other treatments
If you suffer from chronic pain, then consider seeing a pain management specialist. The main goal is to help you live your best life while doing the things you enjoy with the people you love.