Have you tried these treatments for your chronic pain?
Chronic pain is a part of many people’s lives, but it doesn’t have to be.
“Usually, we see a lot of patients waiting to get care for their pain until it limits what they can do,” says Kimberly Marshall, pain management physician assistant at Aurora Medical Center Summit working in collaboration with Dr. Colin Stair. “If your pain is starting to affect you enjoying time with family, your work life, or your activity level, it may be time to get checked out before it gets any worse.”
Pain becomes chronic when it lasts longer than a few weeks or affects your ability to function like you normally would. When patients see her for the first time, Marshall says many of them have the misconception that pain medication is the only way they can be treated. However, even if you’ve tried different procedures or treatments in the past, advancements in medications and procedures are always being made, so there are a lot of treatment choices available to help with different types of pain, she said.
She suggests a few options people can consider:
- Chiropractic care: This integrative approach can help relieve or eliminate pain.
- Interventional pain: If less invasive options aren’t helping, spinal injections might be an option.
- Pain management: Different medications are available that can improve quality of life and control pain.
- Physical therapy: There are different rehabilitation services to reduce your pain and recover function.
- Yoga: Stretching and staying active helps relieve pain and prevent future injury.
- Surgical treatment options: If surgery is necessary, there is an assortment of minimally invasive options available.
Having a multidisciplinary approach with a range of specialists supports you and gives you the best care based on your needs, she said. This team often includes physical therapy, chiropractic care, sports medicine physicians, interventional pan doctors, and neurosurgeons.
If your pain isn’t improving or you have concerns, Marshall recommends reaching out to your primary care provider and so they can help evaluate and determine next steps, including if a referral is appropriate.
Is your chronic pain cause for concern? Take a free back and neck pain online quiz here.
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About the Author
Hannah Koerner is a Public Affairs Specialist with Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. In her free time, she enjoys biking, snowshoeing, and cheering on Wisconsin sports teams.
And what exactly is the point of this article? There is nothing listed that chronic pain patients aren’t already aware of. Someone could have selected random words out of a dictionary and it would have been a more interesting read.
What does me is the fact these doctors writing about chronic pain have never actually experienced any of these pains but get paid a lot of money to help with the pain but actually know nothing employ people who know how it feels to suffer this pain on a daily basis . I have been suffering over 10 years and it only gets worse no matter what I try, the meds they get you on make you feel groggy and unable to function properly , it’s about time there was a realistic approach to help with easing pain.