The Importance of a Pain Management Evaluation

The burden that comes with managing pain is no small one, as the problem affects almost every aspect of your existence. The end result is that you’re tired of being imprisoned by pain, and you long for relief and a return to a more normal, happier, life.

We share this same goal here at Comprehensive Pain Management, which is why Drs. Boris Shwartzman, Do Chan and the rest of our experienced team offer a wide array of solutions that relieve pain. To figure out which solution is best for your unique situation, our first step is to perform a comprehensive pain evaluation.

Before you get here

Our pain evaluations begin before you even come through our doors, as we send you a “Pain and Wellness Center Patient Questionnaire” which you should fill out before your appointment with us.

This questionnaire allows us to gather important information beforehand so that when you arrive, we have the details we need to take the next steps.

During your pain management evaluation

When you come in, we spend some time discussing your symptoms and your medical history, and then we get started on our own investigative work. Through advanced imaging, musculoskeletal assessments, nerve testing, and more, we determine the extent of the problem and its potential for ongoing pain.

While this type of testing is paramount in establishing your treatments moving forward, we also recognize that pain management isn’t always simple, and there are many factors that we need to consider.

For example, the duration of your pain can play a significant role, as your pain pathways may become more active and sensitive at the same time as you develop resistance to pain treatments.

As well, we also take your unique situation into consideration, such as whether you have a substance use disorder that we need to consider as part of your pain management strategy.

In other words, our pain management evaluations are designed to help us tailor a protocol that best suits your circumstances, needs, and goals.

Treating your pain

It’s difficult to say here what your pain management strategy may look like, but our overriding goal is to find solutions that remedy the underlying problem for sustainable pain relief. For example, if you’re struggling with lumbar spinal stenosis, we offer an innovative surgical technique — mild® — that opens up your spinal canal, taking the pressure off your nerves.

Or, if compression fractures are causing your pain, we can restore height to your vertebrae through kyphoplasty, which is a minimally invasive, in-office procedure.

While we do our utmost to resolve the root cause of your pain, there are times when managing the pain is your only option, as the underlying problem is progressive or incurable (think arthritis).

In these cases, we typically use a combination of strategies to manage your pain, which can include:

Before we recommend any of these options, your first step is make an appointment for your pain management evaluation at one of our offices in Attleboro or Franklin, Massachusetts, or South Kingstown or Warwick, Rhode Island. To get started, simply click here.