Dealing with and treating pain can be a complicated process, especially if you don’t know how or why you’re in pain in the first place. This can leave normal doctors at a loss for how to go about treating you. Fortunately, if your primary care physician doesn’t have the answer, they can refer you to a pain management clinic. The following is a guide on what pain management is and the benefits of seeking out this service.
What is Pain Management?
Pain management is, as the name implies, a medical practice born from and centered on the need to treat any kind of pain person may feel. A pain management specialist is specifically trained in the practice of locating, diagnosing and treating chronic pain. At first glance, there might not seem to be much of a difference between your primary care physician and a pain management specialist, but there are several key differences that make a pain management specialist the preferable choice for dealing with chronic or acute pain.
A pain management specialist has training in specialized testing methods for diagnosing different types of chronic pain. They have a keener sense of which medication to prescribe for pain and its dosage. Finally, they can more efficiently coordinate additional care, such as rehabilitation and psychological therapy.
What are the Benefits?
You may wonder why your primary physician can’t do all of the above services. While your primary physician may be quite knowledgeable in a variety of medical fields, a pain management specialist is specifically trained in treating patients who need pain relief. Having more of a focus in their training makes them vastly more knowledgeable in the field of pain management than a normal doctor. Also, your primary physician doesn’t have access to the same equipment a pain management specialist has, hindering their ability to properly diagnose and treat you. Finally, pain management specialists have access to more prescriptions that they can use to more accurately use to help you treat your chronic pain.
When it comes to locating, diagnosing, managing, and ultimately treating chronic or acute pain, a pain management specialist is simply better equipped, trained, and connected than the average care physician. Luckily, these kinds of clinics are readily available, and if you start feeling chronic pain, your doctor will most likely prescribe you to a pain management specialist to help you. If you’d rather save the extra step, Riverside Pain Physicians is a coastal spine and pain clinic that will be happy to listen to your problem and diagnose your pain.
