GeneralIs A Pain Specialist Right For You? What You Need To Know

At times, you experience a given type of pain, maybe chronic pain, acute pain, nerve pain, bone pain, or any other type of pain. And you’re left wondering whether you need a pain specialist and when you should find one. Pain is a general name that details any uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling that makes you restless.

A pain specialist is a specialized doctor trained, qualified, and validated to provide personalized, integrated, and managed pain relief services. Simply put, a pain specialist evaluates your pain and offers medication and therapy accordingly. Moreover, they provide patients with resourceful ways to stop pain before it can develop into other serious conditions.

This post explains why you need a pain specialist like San Marcos Pain Specialist or other well-rounded specialists. Keep reading.

Types Of Injuries That Requires A Pain Specialist

As mentioned above, you might be exposed to numerous types of pain. This is because various pains are aided by diverse conditions, affecting different parts of the human body. However, all these pains fall into three major groups, including pains due to nerve injury, tissue + nerve injury, and tissue injury.

Pains due to nerve injury include:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Stroke
• Spinal cord injury
• Neuropathy, which is a pain due to diabetes, HIV, and shingles

Pains due to tissue injury

• Rheumatoid arthritis, which brings pain to small joints like wrists and fingers
• Osteoarthritis brings pain to large joints like hips and knees

Pains due to tissue + nerve injury

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Bone pain
• Acute pain

You can record the different pain levels on a scale and then transfer the ratings to the journal for study by the pain specialist. Often, you can use a 0-10 rating scale, which is interpreted as follows:

0 means you experience no pain

1–3 means you can withstand the pain

4-6 means the pain is more frequent and can affect your daily operations

7–10 means the pain is severe

This helps you to visit a pain specialist in any case of pain to lead a pain-free life.

How To Get A Pain Specialist

Independent of the type of pain, you’ll need a reputable pain specialist who will provide services that match your need. Here are some tips to employ to land the best pain specialist.

1. Get A Recommendation From Your Primary Care Doctor

This is the best place to start in the journey to eliminate any pain you might be experiencing. Why? Your doctor already has industry connections and knows how to find a pain specialist and who you should visit. Additionally, the doctor has a clear history of your health and the treatments you’ve been having that are directly or indirectly related to the cause of the pain.

As such, you can ask your physician to advise you on the best San Marcos Pain Doctor or recommend a list of reputable pain clinics specializing in your area.

2. Joint Pain Support Groups

Sometimes, you might believe that you’re the only one going through some pain. However, many people are ailing from the same pain, but you can never know unless you engage with them. That necessitates the need to join pain support groups.

These online or physical associations bring together people with chronic pains going through the same condition. You can get pain specialist recommendations and various treatment plans in these groups.

You can also get an ideal San Marcos Pain Specialist based on the testimonies of your counterparts, which will help you decide easily.

3. Check For Telehealth Options

Another driving factor in finding a pain specialist is their availability to offer services online. Remember, you can experience pain anytime, anywhere, which may make it difficult to set up meetings with them all the time. As such, virtual visits can be an excellent option to consider when choosing a pain specialist.

Besides, you may be diagnosed physically, and suggest follow-ups be carried out virtually. You’ll only need to take notes of your progress and any noticeable changes and carry them with you during your physical appointment.

4. Levels Of Experience

Besides board certification, you also need to consider the levels of experience of your preferred pain specialist. The best pain specialist should handle your case precisely and recommend treatments accordingly. By checking their board certifications, they should be well-trained and with the relevant skills and experience to handle your pain.

5. Consider Gender

Sometimes, you might be required to consider the gender of the pain specialist. Why? You need to be comfortable to open up with your personal information regarding the pain. Primarily, your gender choice for a pain specialist can be a perfect match rather than the opposite gender.

Besides, a San Marcos Pain Specialist is skilled differently to handle men and women. With this in mind, get to know the pain specialist’s skills and experience in dealing with your gender.

Pain Treatment Approach

Often, you’ll start pain treatment with care from your primary physician. This involves therapies and basic medications. But for further treatments, you’ll need a pain specialist who uses a structural yet procedural manner.

The first step involves spinal injections to numb pain and muscle relaxant medications. Sometimes, though rarely, they may use Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulators (TENS) to electrically reduce pain in the painful areas.

The next step involves viscosupplementation and RFA (radiofrequency ablation). At this stage, your affected nerve reacts with chemical agents to stop or reduce the pain. Viscosupplementation involves fluid injection, primarily when you are going through arthritis pain.

The third and often the last step aims to stop the pain in the spinal cord areas, which is the major sensing pain organ in the human body.

Begin A Pain Journal To Choose The Right Pain Specialist

To record your pain levels so you can explain to your pain specialist precisely, you need to make a pain journal.  A reputable San Marcos Pain Specialist will advise you how to do this. You should file the times you have pain, possible causes, and when the pain worsens, maybe after a stressful event, a given diet, etc.

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