Charleston Pain Management |
Pain, particularly chronic pain, can take the joy out of life. As American’s are living longer, many have to learn how to live with pain in their golden years. Fortunately in Charleston we have numerous medical professionals who specialize in pain management. Pain can come in many forms and each requires a different pain management regiment. If you experience trauma, such as an automobile accident, become injured at work or slip and fall, the treatment is very different from what you get from chronic pain. Trauma pain management is usually for only the period of time until your injuries heal. This can be a few days from a sore neck to a lifetime back problem. Each trauma is different as is each patient. Fortunately, when your personal physician or Charleston pain management advisor knows what is causing the pain it is much easier to treat. Chronic pain can be trickier for your Charleston pain manager to diagnose and treat. If they are unclear what is causing the discomfort it is hard to correctly prescribe the proper treatment and medication. Pain management practitioners come from all fields of medicine but the best place to start is your personal physician. Be honest and frank about your pain and don’t ever feel embarrassed. I once threw my back out in the throes of passion. Embarrassing, maybe; but my Charleston doctor needed to know what caused the problem. Some Charleston pain management advisors focus primarily on the pharmacologic management of the patient -- they prescribe pain pills. This is not a bad place to start since there have been so many improvements in pain medication in recent years. It used to be the muscle relaxer my doctor would prescribe was opium based and while it relaxed my back it knocked me out for 12 hours at a time. Now he gives me one that is just as effective without turning me into a snoring bed warmer. Other Charleston pain management advisors specialize in interventional procedures such as the kind typically used for chronic back pain. This is a more aggressive and proactive form of treatment and would include epidural steroid injections, facet joint injections and neurolytic blocks. They may also resort to spinal cord stimulators and intrathecal drug delivery system implants, etc. There are a lot of big words here so be sure you understand them all before proceed with any treatment. The best place to start is with an honest conversation with your primary Charleston physician. |