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People often ask us what it is that we do. Patients who are referred to us often don’t know why they were sent to us. This blog is to explain what we do, why you need to see us and how to find a reputable pain management doctor.

People often develop pain in there life that lasts beyond 4-6 weeks. This is called Chronic Pain. Some causes of chronic pain are arthritis, spinal stenosis, sciatica, bulging discs, post surgical pain, diabetic neuropathy, chronic headaches etc.. etc.. Typically these conditions are treated by Internal medicine and family physicians with medications. If the pain is not being controlled you may need to see a pain management specialist.

Many times these conditions are not amenable or curable by surgery. But, they are not well controlled with conventional medications. At this point a pain management specialist can be useful to diagnose the actual cause of pain. Once this is identified a combination of injections, off label medications, and therapy can be used to manage or sometimes cure the pain. The aim is to restore function so that the person’s daily life is not occupied with suffering and living in pain. Untreated chronic pain affects your overall health, weight, psychology, behavior, mood, hormones. It adversely affects the people around you also.

So how do I find a Pain Management doctor? What should I look for when assessing if a physician is capable of helping me?

A lot of physicians claim to be pain management specialists. Often times they are not, and are not adequately trained in the specialty of pain management. Pain management is a specialty. To be a pain management specialist- Physicians (M.D) finish a residency in Anesthesiology, PM&R or Neurology and go for additional training in a University Based Pain Management fellowship program. Once they graduate they do Board Certification exams to be board certified in Pain Management. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) are the ones who certify them . Next time you see a pain management doctor ask him where they did there pain management fellowship and if they are board certified in pain management. The answers might surprise you.

Hope this post provides clarification on these issues. Choose wisely.