Chronic Pain Specialist

What is chronic pain?

Chronic pain is any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Pain is a warning signal from your body that something is injured or damaged, but the chronic pain persists for months or even years.

Chronic pain is often accompanied by other disruptive symptoms including fatigue, disturbed sleep, appetite changes, and mood disorders like depression. It can limit your mobility and make it difficult for you to complete regular activities and hobbies, which can worsen the mental and emotional symptoms of chronic pain.

What causes chronic pain?

The exact cause of chronic pain is difficult to diagnose, as there are no specific tests to measure or identify pain. Your doctor needs to rely on your descriptions of your pain and tests to diagnose injuries or conditions that could be causing your symptoms.

Chronic pain manifests in a variety of ways including:

• Headaches
• Neck, shoulder, and back pain
• Joint pain
• Pelvic pain
• Sinus pain
• Nerve pain like carpal tunnel syndrome
• Fibromyalgia

In some cases, injury, physical trauma, and generalized muscle or nerve pain can evolve into a chronic pain condition. It’s also common for chronic pain to develop as a result of cancer and surgical procedures.

How is chronic pain managed?

The doctors at South Lake Pain Institute take a holistic approach to pain management, which combines pain-relieving treatments with therapies designed to improve your wellness and help you return to a healthy, active, and pain-free life.

Your doctor creates a customized pain management plan to address your needs. It may include oral and topical medications, physical therapy, acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy, and epidural injections.

Some of the medications your doctor can suggest include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Acetaminophen
• Tricyclic antidepressants
• Anti-seizure medicines
• Muscle relaxants
• Lidocaine and fentanyl patches

The doctors can prescribe opioids, but they often only turn to these medications when other therapies have failed to relieve your pain.

In addition to pain-relieving treatments, your doctor can also suggest dietary and lifestyle changes, laser therapy, Ayurvedic herbs, and homeopathy options to improve your overall wellness, which can help you deal with your pain as you work with your doctor to find the most effective treatment options.

If you’re living with chronic pain, call or schedule an appointment online today. The team at South Lake Pain Institute is committed to helping you find relief.