Chronic Pain Q & A
What is the difference between acute and chronic pain?
Acute pain occurs when your body responds to an injury or illness. This type of pain is normal, serves as a signal alerting you that something is wrong, and goes away within a few months.
Chronic pain is pain that lasts at least three months or continues even after the injury or condition that caused the pain heals. When your pain becomes chronic, it usually doesn’t respond well to standard medications and conventional treatments.
What causes chronic pain?
Your lower back, neck, knee, and shoulder are most likely to develop chronic pain.
Chronic pain may begin as an acute injury, but it can also develop from many conditions, including:
- Arthritis
- Herniated discs
- Spinal stenosis
- Neuropathy
- Fibromyalgia
- Migraines
- Poststroke pain
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Degenerative disc disease
- Complex regional pain syndrome
Chronic back and neck pain is often due to pinched spinal nerves, a condition called radiculopathy.
How do interventional specialists treat chronic pain?
The team at DYNAMIC Pain and Wellness takes a comprehensive approach to treating chronic pain, supporting your overall health and wellness with a range of therapies.
At your first appointment, your provider reviews your medical history and completes a physical exam. They may also do a neurological assessment. Depending on the results, they may order diagnostic imaging or conduct tests to evaluate your nerve and muscle function.
After determining the cause of your pain, your provider at DYNAMIC Pain and Wellness creates a treatment plan, drawing from many therapeutic options.
A few examples include:
- Physical therapy
- Medications
- Joint injections
- Nerve blocks
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Steroid injections
- Spinal cord stimulation
- PRP injections
- Stem cell therapy
The team at DYNAMIC Pain and Wellness also offers ongoing medication management and narcotics monitoring.
Medication management is designed to prevent side effects. It also allows your doctor to supervise the results of your medication and adjust your dose or change medication when needed.
Though the team believes that narcotics such as opioids are beneficial for some patients with chronic pain, they’re dedicated to monitoring your opioid use to prevent you from becoming addicted.
Your provider often combines other treatments with narcotics because they provide additional pain relief that allows you to take the smallest possible dose.
Don’t keep struggling with chronic pain even if conventional medical care has failed to help. Call DYNAMIC Pain and Wellness or book an appointment online.
