Pain Management   

 

What it is:  To help patients learn skills and techniques that reduce the disability caused by pain, emotional instability, and learned helplessness.

 

What it does:  Attempts to lessen acute pain and treat it’s cause, or teach and administer different methods to manage ongoing, chronic pain

 

How it’s done: 

 

1.            Behavior modification:  A system of positive and negative rewards can help some patients adopt a more positive and healthy approach.

2.       Physical therapy:  Exercises, stretching, applying heat or cold, and many other techniques can be used to help maintain flexibility and manage pain.

3.       Occupational therapy:  People learn ways to regain independence and physical ability, both at work and home.  Increased skills often mean improved confidence and emotional stability.

4.       Individual, group or family therapy: Because reactions to chronic pain are affected by mental and emotional factors, therapy may help ease pain or change reactions to it.

5.       Acupuncture:  Some people respond positively to this type of stimulation, feeling less pain for varying lengths of time.

6.       Relaxation and meditation:  Tension makes all pain worse.  By using techniques that relax muscles and calm tension, a person can lessen pain and gain more control over it.

7.       Electric stimulation: TENS
          (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve
            Stimulation) uses brief electrical impulses
          to stimulate nerve endings beneath the
          skin.  Some stimulators can be
          permanently implanted.

8.       Nerve block: An injection may be used to temporarily block the nerve carrying the pain message.  It can also be used to help diagnose causes of chronic pain.

9.       Medications: Drugs produce different reactions in different people.  They may be helpful in some cases, but they can have unpleasant side effects, too.  Discuss all decisions with your physician.

 

Why it’s done:  To promote and reinforce self-regulation, increase activity, support patients in regaining a sense of life control, reduce reliance on medical services and narcotics, and return patients to vocational/avocational pursuits.

 

* Excerpts taken from the brochure, “About living with chronic pain” from the International Pain Foundation, 909 NE 43rd St., Rm. 306, Seattle, WA, 98105.  Also taken from the Pain Management Information Program Information Packet, produced by The Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara, 427 Camino Del Remedio, Santa Barbara, CA, 93110.

 Other Services

 

Intrathecal Baclofen Therapy

Botulinum Toxin Therapy

Electrodiagnostic Testing;
Electromyography and
 Nerve Conduction Studies

Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy