Chronic pain is no fun.

Chronic pain management is a specialty area of practice that centers on assisting people who have ongoing, often insurable, issues with pain or disease.

Most chronic pain management is multidisciplinary—meaning your treatment plan will often come with multiple angles and quite possibly, multiple physicians and/or a physician and/or counselor. This way, hopefully, a complete plan can be created that addresses all aspects of your pain and pain issues.

Doctors who specialize in pain management also specialize in appropriate use of pain medications. They can help you to choose the proper pain medicine for your disease or illness while minimizing the addictive effects that some medications bring to the table.

A skilled pain management doctor will also have a variety of other treatments they incorporate as well, including biofeedback, nerve stimulation, etc. A good relationship with a good pain doctor can often go a long way to helping you regain your quality of life.

What does a pain management specialist do exactly?

A pain management specialist is a physician who has special education on treating pain and chronic pain condition. This can be comprised of acute pain (an accident; injury), chronic pain (diseases / chronic illnesses that cause pain), cancer, or a combination.

Pain can also be a result of surgery, weight issues or lifestyle. Sometimes, pain will go away by itself. Other times, a physician’s intervention is needed.

What should I look for in a pain management specialist?

First, you need to look for someone who truly specializes in the practice of pain management and understands the risks and responsibility that goes along with treating someone with chronic pain. Then, you need to be sure the doctor’s personality meshes well with your own.

Your doctor should also be invested in and willing to working with any additional professionals who can help to magnify the positive results of your treatment. Make sure to ask if your new doctor has real training or specialization in pain management, check to see what their reputation is in this area (local and online reputation) and how many patients they treat or have treated with your specific issue.

No one should have to deal with pain. But there are a lot of considerations to treating pain, not the least of which is the widespread problem of addiction to – or abuse of – pain medications.

Your pain management specialist will be knowledgeable in proper use of medications, as well as other means – possibly incorporating counseling or mood therapy – of treating pain. They will also be specifically trained in pain management and willing to address a multidisciplinary approach.

If you are able to find all of these qualities in a pain management physician or practice, then you will be well on your way to living a life free of pain or at the very least, much less painful.