Pain Management Services: Specialists for Managing Pain at University Hospitals
Everyone experiences pain at some time in their lives. Acute pain can be due to injury, illness, or surgical procedures. This pain often resolves as the body’s natural processes lead to healing.
Sometimes, however, pain does not resolve and instead becomes a constant part of daily life. This chronic pain can cause both physical and psychological distress, and it can be particularly upsetting when there is no obvious cause and no immediate remedy. Regardless of its source, chronic pain can lead to decreased daily function and psychological suffering including depression, anxiety and anger.
UH Pain Management Services
University Hospitals Pain Management Services is a multidisciplinary initiative that includes top-rated pain management doctors from anesthesiology, behavioral health, emergency medicine, pediatrics, primary care, surgery and UH Connor Whole Health to treat and manage chronic pain.
Through these partnerships, University Hospitals is working to:
- Optimize safe and effective pain management treatments and techniques
- Improve prescribing, follow-up and management of opioids
- Better identify and treat patients at risk for addiction and other psychological complications of pain
The mission of UH Pain Management Services is to maximize function and minimize risk for patients with pain, through a variety of means, including:
- Provider and patient education
- Multimodality treatment
- Research on pain conditions
At UH, we understand that no one chronic pain treatment is right for every patient. Non-opioid medication treatments, and non-medication therapies such as physical therapy and integrative therapies, are increasingly being recommended as front-line resources for patients. Our goal is to create treatment plans and incorporate multiple treatment modalities, so that each patient receives maximum benefit. Your personalized treatment plan will be as individual as you are.
Comprehensive Pain Management Center
Serving Parma and surrounding communities, the Comprehensive Pain Management Center at UH Parma Medical Center offers a multidisciplinary approach to treating chronic pain. With two convenient locations in Parma and North Royalton, our center offers pain management, physical medicine/rehabilitation, physical/occupational therapy, behavioral health services, addiction services and more.
Call 440-743-4333 to make an appointment today.
Common Components of Pain Management
- Addiction Treatment Services
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Addiction Treatment Services: Our addiction recovery program was established to help patients struggling with substance abuse, many of whom may also be suffering from chronic pain. We work with patients to address their addiction, as well as other emotional and physical symptoms.
- Behavioral Health
- Patients coping with chronic pain may also struggle with depression, anxiety, and other behavioral health issues. Specialists in behavioral health (psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and therapists) can help patients navigate these complexities, which can in fact improve patient perception of pain.
- Integrative medicine
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Integrative medicine: The providers at UH Connor Whole Health can help treat chronic pain using specialized services that embrace the benefits of providing healing with a more holistic approach. Services include:
- Interventional procedures
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Interventional procedures: Interventional pain management uses pain blocking techniques such as surgical procedures, electrostimulation, radiofrequency procedures, injections or nerve blocks, or other methods to help manage pain symptoms. Sometimes interventional procedures may be used in conjunction with other pain management techniques, such as therapy and prescription medications, as part of a multidisciplinary plan for managing pain.
- Medication management
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Medications are an integral part of managing pain. However, pain management medications should not be equated with opioid narcotics. Opioid narcotics might be used to manage acute pain and terminal pain often related to cancer but have not been shown to be effective in the long-term management of non-cancer related pain.
Often, chronic pain may have a neuropathic component. In this case, atypical pain medications including anti-seizure and antidepressant medications are used. These have a proven record in the management of neuropathic pain.
Medication management is only one part of the overall treatment for pain, which often involves other measures including physical therapy, minimally invasive interventions, and other modalities such as psychological interventions and complementary therapies.
- Pain management skills training
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Pain management skills training: Individuals with chronic pain often find it difficult to keep up with work, child care, socializing with friends and family, hobbies, household chores, and other normal activities. They can become isolated, inactive, depressed, and fearful of further pain. All these changes result from the ongoing pain, but also add to the distress caused by the pain. Fortunately, there is a great deal chronic pain patients can do to resume valued activities, improve their mood, and improve their quality of life, all without increasing their pain. By working with a health psychologist, chronic pain patients can learn how to apply such skills as relaxation, mood management, activity pacing, good sleep habits, and social skills to minimize the impact of pain.
While these techniques do not eliminate the medical problems causing the pain, they allow chronic pain sufferers to take back control of their lives, and become themselves again. By applying appropriate pain management skills, patients often find that “While I still have the pain, the pain no longer has me.”
- Physical and occupational therapies
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Physical and occupational therapies: Certified physical therapists and occupational therapists can play an important role in pain management through the various types of therapies and techniques they use with patients. Many occupational and physical therapists will use various forms of exercise to not only promote and restores normal function, but as a primary pain management tool as well. Physical therapy encompasses a wide range of treatments, such as massage, joint manipulation and dry needling. This means patients who do not respond to one method may find relief in another. Unlike some other methods of reducing pain, physical therapy aims not to stop pain quickly and temporarily, but over time and for the long term. This is why it is a good option for patients who want to avoid taking opioid medications.
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
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Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) providers specialize in preventing, diagnosing, treating and rehabilitating an array of disorders and injuries. PM&R providers evaluate and treat both acute and chronic pain, including physical and/or cognitive impairments and disabilities that result from musculoskeletal, neurological and other conditions.