Whether you specialize in oncology, pediatrics, you name it – pain management is a valuable subspecialty to have under your belt. If you put yourself in the shoes of your patients, there is a unique sense of assurance that comes with knowing your physician is a pain medicine doctor.
Being a pain medicine doctor elevates the level of patient care you extend. Therefore, it is beneficial for disease diagnosis and crafting health management plans for your patients.
A pain medicine doctor is a specialist who evaluates the pain a patient feels and treats a wide range of pain problems. Should you decide to become a pain medicine doctor, this unique subspecialty will enable you to treat sudden pain problems, such as headaches, and a variety of long-term, chronic pain, like back pains and joint problems.
Because your primary specialization exists to nip illnesses – whether potential or existing – at the bud, addressing the pain that comes with specific treatments usually ends up taking the back seat.
By having the skills of a pain medicine doctor, a physician gains greater insight on prescribing treatments that put a patient under the least amount of pain or, at the very least, help patients manage any type of pain that they feel before, during, or after treatment.
Pain medicine doctors extend a mix of medication-based treatment and procedures to curb the pain at its source.
Pain management is a relatively new medical specialty that has rapidly evolved, as methods of treating pain continue to become more innovative and varied.
A pain medicine doctor treats pain which can be categorized into three groups:
Open communication is at the core of a good relationship between pain medicine doctor and their patients. Suppose your patients are comfortable enough to open up to you about their feelings. In that case, chances are you will be able to diagnose the source of the pain accurately and prescribe the necessary treatment.
While all primary care physicians have a general knowledge of addressing pain, pain medicine doctors are well-versed in advanced pain management. By practice, pain medicine doctors treat pain in a step-by-step manner:
The first line of treatment involves medication, such as anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, and muscle relaxants, as well as numbing injections, such as nerve block or spinal injections.
In some cases, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators (TENS) may also be used – these are medical units that use skin pads to deliver low-voltage currencies to areas where the pain is felt.
The second line of treatment consists of advanced procedures, such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or visco-supplementation. These treatments involve heat or chemical agents to be applied to a nerve to stop pain signals. These procedures are typically used to address chronic pain problems like arthritis.
Visco-supplementation injects lubricating fluid to painful joints, such as arthritis pain. Many pain medicine doctors also prescribe more potent medication at this stage, following careful evaluation and guidelines.
The third line of treatment involves implants typically using a pain pump or spinal cord stimulator. This specific procedure relieves pain at the spinal cord level, which is the body's control center for feeling pain. Some pain medicine doctors also opt for regenerative medicine treatments (such as platelet-rich plasma or stem cell therapies) at this stage, though these are often considered emerging treatments with efficacy still being established for many conditions.
Pain Medicine is a subspecialty, meaning there is no direct residency training program for it after medical school.
Physicians become pain medicine doctors by first completing a residency program in a primary specialty such as anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), neurology, or psychiatry. Other specialties like emergency medicine and family medicine may also be eligible pathways. Afterward, physicians undergo a one-year subspecialty training in pain management, referred to as a fellowship.
Finally, physicians must pass a board exam authorized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or its member boards to become board-certified pain medicine doctors.
Most pain medicine doctors have completed primary residencies in anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (physiatry), or neurology. While orthopedics specialists manage pain extensively within their surgical field, the formal fellowship and board certification pathway in Pain Medicine is more commonly pursued by physicians from the aforementioned non-surgical specialties.
Physicians become pain medicine doctors by undergoing a one-year subspecialty training in pain management, referred to as a fellowship. Finally, physicians must pass a board exam authorized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or its member boards to receive their certification as pain medicine doctors.
While many pain medicine doctors incorporate pain management in their daily practice, some physicians are interested in setting up clinics focused on pain management. In this case, it is best to check what the state guidelines are in your area before setting up shop.
Each state has its guidelines defining who can practice in a pain management clinic.
Some states require board certification for all practicing pain medicine doctors in the clinic. Some states only require the physician-owner of a pain management clinic to be certified. Other states do not require board certification at all, for as long as the practicing pain medicine doctors meet a required number of credits of pain management education per year.
Many other states currently do not have any pain management clinics and pain medicine doctors' policies.
Do you want to start and thrive at your own Practice? Then, list your practice for free and maximize your online reach, transforming health care shoppers into patients.
Pain management doctors diagnose patients with several medical conditions that can contribute to either acute or chronic pain.
Pain management is definitely a very valuable resource for patients with severe, acute, or chronic pain problems.
One can expect a thorough evaluation of acute pain or chronic pain from a pain management doctor. A thorough evaluation includes running multiple blood tests and imaging studies to diagnose the medical condition and develop a treatment plan to help reduce the pain.
A pain management doctor can help diagnose and treat acute pain and chronic pain. Treatment strategies include but are not limited to oral and intravenous pain medications, procedures like epidural steroid injections, intra-articular injections, etc.
Pain management doctors are also called pain specialists or pain doctors. These doctors typically have completed a residency in a field like anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), neurology, or psychiatry, and they have an M.D. or D.O. degree.
While many pain management doctors come from an anesthesiology background, it is not the only pathway. Physicians from other specialties such as physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), neurology, and psychiatry also commonly become pain medicine specialists after completing a pain medicine fellowship.
Pain management doctors typically use urine tests to look for any illicit substance use or to demonstrate compliance with controlled substances like narcotics. While a comprehensive urinalysis can detect issues like bladder infections, urine drug screens are specifically focused on substance monitoring.
A pain management doctor is a physician with specialized training (fellowship) in pain medicine, following a residency in a field such as anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), neurology, or psychiatry, that can help manage chronic pain and acute pain. They are capable of assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of several kinds of types of pain.
