A website specializing in Lifestyle Modification of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain

Pain Management

There are 4 specialty practice areas in pain management, identified below by discipline:

There are 4 specialty practice areas in pain management, identified below by discipline:

Anesthesiology:

– An anesthesiologist who provides a high level of care, either as a primary physician or consultant, for patients experiencing problems with acute, chronic and/or cancer pain in both the hospital and ambulatory settings. Patient care needs may also be coordinated with other specialists. You need to ask what type of pain management services they specialize in. Interventional anesthesiologists are a “last resort” pain management option, specializing in implanting spinal column stimulators (SCS) or implantable morphine pumps (IMP) for in cases of intractable (irreversible) pain determined by MRI or other physical findings that have been identified by specialists in the tissue, tumor or body part to cause the pain and determined by the specialist to be irreversible. Referral is the usually made by the specialist to an interventional anesthesiologist for consideration of an SCS or IMP. Pain Management anesthesiologists I have worked with are hospital-based practitioners who do operating room based anesthesia and then saw patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Anesthesiologists, in my experience, deal with a broader base of pain patients. Pain management anesthesiologists treat pain with: strong pain medications (opioids or narcotics), trigger point injections, epidurals, infusions and, a few, in “last resort” cases, with spinal column stimulators or morphine pumps. If anybody can stop pain on the short-term it’s anesthesiologists. Long-term restoration of functionality, however, is not their area of practice. .

Neurology

– A neurologist who provides a high level of care, either as a primary physician or consultant, for patients experiencing problems with acute, chronic or cancer pain in both hospital and ambulatory settings. Patient care needs may also be coordinated with other specialists. Neurologists I have worked with were office-based practitioners, saw inpatients and outpatients with complex pain conditions, especially complex neuropathic and headache pain cases. Neurologists, in my experience, deal with a narrower base of pain patients, so they are the option when your pain has determined to be due to nerve damage. Neurologists will mainly use strong pain medications (narcotics) to relieve pain. Restoration of functionality is not within their area of practice. .

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Physiatry)

– A physician who provides a high level of care, either as a primary physician or consultant, for patients experiencing problems with acute, chronic or cancer pain in both hospital and ambulatory settings. Physiatrists I have worked with specialized in cases of serious traumatic injuries that required complex drug and physical therapy management often with the use of orthotics and other devices. Many of the cases I saw with physiatrists were paraplegics or quadraplegics from major traumatic injury. Physiatrists use physical rehab approaches, and pain medications. Restoration of instrumental functions is outside their area of practice.

Psychology (Pain Management Psychology)

– A sub-specialty psychologist who provides a high level of care, usually as a consultant to physicians specialized in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain, usually working in a hospital-based setting. This type of psychologist is credentialed in pain management, has extensive experience in clinical medicine, in treating the full range of chronic pain disorders, is trained in quantitative research. and may direct outpatient chronic pain programs or be a principal investigator in controlled chronic pain research. I know about a half-dozen credentialed pain management psychologists in the US, and none abroad, so they are extremely rare breed and very difficult to find. Pain psychologists treat pain in combination with physicians who are prescribing pain medications and want to provide their patients, and themselves (for DEA purposes), the benefits of a comprehensive approach to pain management which insures pain patients on powerful pain drugs are engaging in deterrence behavior that reduces the likelihood of addiction.

The main professional sources to locate pain management specialists are:

American Academy of Pain Management

This is the best resource for finding pain management specialists. By their discipline you can  determine the type of treatment you will get. Pain psychologists are only found here, and they provide: 1) chronic pain education program; 2) attitude change support groups; 3) long-term chronic pain support, individually or in groups; 4) they are the best ones to help patients with restoration of functionality, particularly the return to work.

On the Academy’s website, column on the left side, go to:

Find a Professional and click on it. Then:

– Choose the State

– Choose the profession (we recommend “Pain Management” because you have a greater chance of finding someone)

– Leave Name blank. Click on Search and get a list of Pain Management specialists in your State

– Diplomates are credentialed in Pain Management, Fellows are not

– Call those nearest to you and ask what their credentials are in Pain Management and if they treat chronic non-cancer pain

American Academy of Pain Medicine

On the column on the right side, go to:

Find an AAPM Member

Click on: Physician Finder

– Choose the State only

– Leave all other options blank

– Click on Search Now for a list of AAPM Members

– Call those nearest to you and ask what their credentials are in Pain Management and if they treat chronic non-cancer pain

American Society of Anesthesiologists

Anesthesiologists often head Pain Management programs. However, their Website does not have a way of finding Anesthesiologists certified in pain management by State. Yet, every State has a Society of Anesthesiologists. Search by State for the State Society of Anesthesiologists in your State. Call the main office and ask if they have a Directory of Members who are Board Certified in Pain Management. Then call each one and ask the Receptionist, “Is the doctor Board Certified in Pain Management? Is there a comprehensive pain program s/he recommends in our area? Is s/he experienced in treating chronic non-cancer pain?”

UCompareHealathcare (http://www.ucomparehealthcare.com/drs/pain_management_physicians/).

This Website provides listings of pain management physicians by State, which is the page that appears when you click on their above address.

– Click on the State and get a listing of specialists by City.

– Unfortunately, they do not provide the phone number but make you get a “free report” to supposedly enable you to get their phone number

– There is no information on what they specialize in, so be sure to ask, “What are the doctor’s credentials in pain management? And, what type of pain management treatment exactly does s/he specialize in?