Medical Pain Relief

What is medical pain relief?

Medical pain relief provides effective treatment for people who are in pain. In many cases, the problem is chronic or recurring pain conditions, such as:

• Arthritis and other causes of joint pain
• Post-herpetic neuralgia (shingles)
• Fibromyalgia
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Vertebral compression fractures
• Headaches and migraines
• Postsurgical pain
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Trigeminal and occipital neuralgia

Common causes of neck and back pain, like herniated discs, whiplash, degenerative disc disease, and spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), also benefit from medical pain relief.

What kind of medical pain relief might I need?

The Umbrella HealthCare team offers a variety of medical pain relief treatments. They use conservative options first, but if they’re not reducing your pain enough, you can progress to more advanced and invasive interventions. Medical pain relief options include:

Physical therapy

Physical therapy can be invaluable for musculoskeletal conditions and injuries. It uses stretching and strengthening exercises designed to build up weakened tissues, plus passive therapies like massage and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

Pain medications

Over-the-counter pain medicines, including acetaminophen and ibuprofen, can control most mild to moderate pain. For severe acute pain, you might need stronger prescription painkillers, including opioids. However, these drugs are highly addictive, so the Umbrella HealthCare team uses them sparingly.

Other medications

Low-dose tricyclic antidepressants and anti-seizure medicines are often helpful in reducing chronic pain.

Cannabidiol (CBD)

Cannabidiol comes from the marijuana plant but has no hallucinogenic effects.

Steroid injections

Steroids are among the strongest anti-inflammatory drugs. Injections into damaged tissues can have a long-lasting effect that helps with conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome (trapped nerve in the wrist).

Advanced medical pain relief

Patients who don’t respond to other treatments might benefit from a referral to a pain specialist or orthopedist. They can perform advanced interventions like selective nerve blocks, epidural steroid injections, radiofrequency ablation, spinal cord stimulation, and intrathecal pain pump implantation.

How does medical pain relief fit into my chronic disease management plan?

Medical pain relief is just one aspect of managing chronic pain. The Umbrella HealthCare team also offers support for emotional difficulties and mental health problems like depression and anxiety, which often occur alongside chronic pain.

Their counseling services help you understand chronic pain and how to live a life where pain doesn’t control you.

It’s also helpful to learn pain management skills. For example, chronic pain rarely has any useful purpose, unlike acute pain, which warns you that you’re hurt or in danger. Chronic pain hurts, sometimes very badly, but there’s often no tissue damage. Understanding this helps free you from the stress pain causes.

To learn how you can benefit from medical pain relief, call Umbrella HealthCare today or book an appointment online.