According to recent statistics, more than 80 million people in the USA suffer from pain. In fact, many studies have shown that a large group of Americans experience at least one or two episodes of back pain. Back or joint pain is one of the common reasons many people seek treatment. There are several causes of chronic and back pain, including spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and back strain.
So what people do when pain doesn't heal or go away?
This is when the role of pain management comes into play. As pain is one of the complex phenomena, there is a wide range of treatment options. Note that managing pain can be complex or simple, depending on the underlying cause.
For instance, a herniated disc is a less complex pain condition as it causes nerve root irritation. The pain radiates from a herniated disc and goes down the leg. Doctors prescribe epidural steroid injections to alleviate this condition.
However, there are conditions in which pain doesn't go away with simple medications. These conditions may require various techniques and skills to treat the pain.
Let's delve into the details to explore different aspects of pain management.
An Overview of Pain Management
Pain management typically refers to various procedures and methods to reduce, prevent, or manage pain sensations. This may include the use of different medications and physical methods and therapies. As mentioned above, the type of pain management procedure and method largely depends on the severity of the condition. However, to understand what pain management is and how it works, you must know how medical science describes pain.
It is worth mentioning that pain serves as a potential alert system that indicates actual damage in the body. This definition of "damage in the body" is broad as an injury or disease; both can also cause pain. Scientifically, pain is a warning, and an individual experience it when his brain receives and interprets the message. While there is no real benefit of pain, there can be numerous negative effects on the quality of life. It often impedes recovery from injury and illness.
Moreover, unrelieved pain often becomes a chronic syndrome and causes a downward spiral in an individual's health and outlook. That is why it is important to manage pain properly, facilitating recovery, and preventing several additional health-related complications.
Types of Pain
You can precisely classify pain into two categories, chronic or acute, depending on its origin and sources. How a medical professional treats pain depends on its type.
Acute Pain
Acute pain is a type of pain that begins suddenly and causes a sharp feeling. It is often a warning from the body signaling something is not right. Most times, patients can resolve acute pain quickly, but it may take more than three to six months to go away completely.
The recovery pattern of acute pain is usually predictable, and aids in developing treatment plans. Many pain specialists emphasize controlling acute pain timely. It is because treating acute pain on time prevents it from becoming chronic. Some of the acute pain causes include:
Certain diseases
Burns or cuts
Broken bones (spinal fracture)
Dental work
Childbirth and labor
Soft tissue injuries
Surgical pain -post-operative pain
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is another type of pain that lasts longer than six months. It is usually a persistent condition and can be severe. Chronic pain is not only debilitating but also difficult for pain specialists to treat.
For treating chronic pain, a multi-disciplinary approach has become a standard of medical care. The treatment usually involves several specialists such as anesthesiologists and physiatrists, to treat the pain simultaneously or separately.
Managing chronic pain is important as it may affect people emotionally and physically. The pain may have a variety of symptoms, including loss of mobility, muscle tension, and lack of appetite and energy. The emotional effects can be devastating equally and may include anger, anxiety, and depression. Some of the chronic pain causes include:
Cancer
spinal disorders
Arthritis (osteoarthritis)
Nerve dysfunction (with nerve damage)
Soft tissue injury (trauma from vehicle accident or fall)
Unresolved injury or disease (psychogenic pain)
Factors that Guide Pain Management Methods
There are numerous factors that guide the process or treatment method of pain management. Some of the crucial factors pain specialists or doctors take into account are history, duration, intensity, relieving, and aggravating conditions of pain. Most importantly, medical professionals study the structures involved in the pain.
Know that any structure or body part should have a nerve supply that is susceptible to stimulation and injury to cause pain. The concept behind the most interventional procedure to treat pain is that a specific part or structure of the body with sensory nerves is generating or causing pain.
Moreover, X-ray guided viewing methods like fluoroscopy often helps pain specialists locate the structure or spot.
Role of Pain Management Doctors
A pain management doctor plays an important role in identifying the source of the main medical problem. As mentioned earlier, many medical conditions ranging from an injury, poor posture at the work desk to arthritis and herniated disc can cause pain.
Once determined the underlying cause, a pain specialist isolates the optimal treatment. He/she runs certain guided view tests to diagnose pain and find the treatment that works best for the patient based on the latest research and specialized training.
Many pain management specialists conduct several trials on a patient if they don't respond to conventional treatments. Plus, they use a variety of interventional and non-surgical treatments, along with different complementary therapies, to reduce the number of medicines or need for surgery. They may include acupuncture, physical therapy, weight loss, chiropractic care, and dietary changes.
However, it is important to understand that treating pain underpins finding ways to manage it. That means as you can repair injuries and diagnose disease, you can anticipate and prevent pain.
Common Pain Management Options
Here are some pain management options doctors use to alleviate the pain.
· Pharmacological Pain Management Options
Mostly, pain specialists prescribe pain-relieving drugs, also called analgesics. The drugs include NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), antidepressants, narcotics, and anticonvulsants. These drugs are available as prescription medication and can be the initial pain treatment. Moreover, the drugs can be of other therapies as adjuncts, but they may require a doctor's prescription.
For many patients, NSAIDs treat pain that comes from inflammation. They are effective in blocking pain-enhancement neurotransmitters like prostaglandins. Acetaminophen is another valuable drug against pain, but it may cause inflammation. However, Narcotics are not always effective against chronic pain as it may cause changes in a patient's spinal cord. This can alter the pain signaling pathways.
· Non-pharmacological Options
This pain management option doesn't use medications or drugs to treat or alleviate pain. It is typically a replacement method for drug therapy. Many people suffering from pain prefer non-drug therapy as it enables them to take an active stance against the painful condition. The use of relaxation techniques, including meditation and yoga, is a common non-pharmacological option for reducing stress and muscle tension.
Furthermore, people can also reduce stress and tension through biofeedback. It allows individuals to consciously modify heart rate, skin temperature, blood pressure, and muscle tension.
Exercising and participating in physical activities can also help people control or reduce pain levels. Physical therapy is an excellent way to learn beneficial exercises to reduce stress, strengthen muscles, and stay fit.
In fact, many studies link regular exercises and physical therapies to endorphins production-natural pain killers of the body.
· Invasive Procedures
Pain management specialists mainly use three different types of invasive methods to treat or manage pain.
· Augmentative
· Anatomic
· ablative
The procedures typically involve surgeries. Pain specialists have to follow certain guidelines before the procedure to see the permanent effects. First, identifying the underlying cause of pain is essential.
Your pain management specialist performs surgery only if other non-invasive pain management treatments are ineffective. It doesn't end here; the doctors must address the psychological issues before surgery. Plus, there have to be reasonable expectations of success from surgical intervention.
Anatomic procedures refer to correcting or removing the underlying cause of pain. Decompression surgeries such as herniated disk repair in the lower back, nerve compression in cases like carpal tunnel syndrome are relatively popular anatomic procedure. Neurolysis or nerve block is a common anatomic procedure. It involves damaging a part of a peripheral nerve.
The augmentative procedure includes electrical stimulation. It can also involve the direct application of pain killer drugs to the nerves that transmit the pain signals. During electrical stimulation, doctors implant electrodes to stimulate the patient's spinal cord nerves and peripheral nerves.
Summing Up
All in all, pain can be frustrating and debilitating. It often interferes with work, sleep, and the quality time you spend with family and friends. Pain management is a way to relieve pain so that you can enjoy life. However, the treatment can be complex and may cause some harmful effects if your pain management specialist doesn't monitor or administer the treatment properly. Thus, the article includes details to help you understand pain management and its aspects.
Sources
https://www.psadocs.com/what-does-a-pain-management-doctor-do/
https://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/pain-management/what-pain-management