Many have the misconception that pain management specialists merely use painkillers as treatment for pain. What they don’t know is that pain medication or management is diagnosis-based just like any other medical specialisation. It’s like going to the cardiologist to have one’s heart checked, a person goes to the pain management clinic and consult with a specialist to seek out a specific treatment for his particular chronic pain. The field of pain management deals with prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, rehabilitation, and treatment of painful ailments.

Like all other physicians, a pain specialist looks into the patient’s symptoms, examinations, and all other relevant findings to be able to come up with a treatment plan specific to the patient’s condition. Patients go to a pain management specialist because they are in pain, but not all types of pain respond to opoids. It is not true that opoids is the only solution to pain.

The truth is that treatments for spinal or orthopaedic pain differ just like the treatments for heart diseases. The pain solution depends on the cause of pain. You have to be aware that there are different kinds of spinal or orthopaedic pain. You might be suffering from joint pain, bone pain, muscular pain, and ligamentous pain. The pain could also be caused by pinched nerve or from a fracture.

Some patients, who visit pain clinics, do not need pain medication. These patients may respond better to injection, bracing, physical therapy, and/or other types of intervention. It is common knowledge that poor posture and improper walking gait result in musculoskeletal pain. There are also times when physical therapy assessment and evaluation would show that a patient’s pain is caused by tight or stiff muscles, postural movements, and weak muscles.

Through customised exercises and/or a combination of other interventions that are designed to address the specific needs of the patient, pain management would be successful. Therefore, it is vital to work with your pain specialist on the most suitable pain management approach for yourself to achieve the intended outcome.