Pain Management

Opioids are powerful drugs. They control severe pain. But they can be dangerous or even life threatening if used incorrectly. Follow these guidelines for safe use.

Opioids are a powerful class of drugs. They can control severe pain. But they often aren't recommended for many types of chronic pain. That's because their long-term use can cause your body to begin to depend on them.

Opioids are often prescribed to relieve the intense pain that accompanies a serious injury or surgical procedure. While opioids can be addictive, they are considered safe and effective for acute pain management if used for the shortest length of time and at the lowest effective dose necessary. A doctor who prescribes opioids for pain management should regularly monitor your pain levels with the goal of safely discontinuing their use when your pain is more manageable (or under control).

There is no medical test that can tell your healthcare provider what level of pain you might be experiencing following an injury or surgery. That information has to come from you as the patient. Learning how to honestly describe and rate your pain will help your doctor determine the best way to manage that pain and get you on the road to recovery.

A PCA or patient-controlled analgesia pump is one way to receive pain medication in the hospital. Your healthcare team will determine if you are a good candidate for this treatment, which allows you to push a button to receive medication directly into a vein when you experience pain. The pump is programmed so that you cannot give yourself too much.

Continuous epidural infusion is a way to give pain medicine. The medicine is sent to the spinal cord and nerves. This is done through a soft tube (catheter). The catheter is put in the spine into the epidural space, which surrounds your spinal cord.

Hyperalgesia is when a person becomes more sensitive to pain. Changes in nerves and nerve pathways may lead to this overactive response in the body.

A PCA pump lets you give yourself pain medicine after surgery, as you need it. The medicine is delivered through an IV (intravenous) line, a thin tube that goes into your vein.

Once you're home after surgery, you may have some pain. For effective pain management, follow the tips you may have learned in the hospital.

If a facet joint in your back or neck becomes inflamed, you may need a facet joint injection. This is medicine injected directly into the inflamed joint.

Learn what to expect when you get a facet joint injection.

If you have muscle pain or spasms, it may be due to a trigger point. This is a tight, painful knot of muscle fiber. Your doctor can inject medicine into the trigger point to ease pain.

Learn what to expect when you have a trigger point injection.

A sympathetic nerve block helps your healthcare provider find the cause of the burning, pain, or tingling in your arms and hands or legs and feet.

A healthcare provider injects a local pain medicine near the ganglion to numb your nerves. The block will ease your symptoms for a while.

This procedure uses a device to send signals to your spine. These signals help block pain.

Spinal cord stimulation uses a medical device to send signals to the nerve pathways inside your spinal cord. These signals help block chronic pain. Here's what to expect from this procedure.

For certain types of neck pain, your doctor may suggest a cervical epidural injection. During this procedure, medicine is injected deep into your neck near your spine.

Cervical epidural injection is a treatment for certain types of neck pain. During this procedure, medicine is injected deep into your neck near your spine. Learn what to expect before, during, and after this treatment.

Back or neck pain may be due to problems with certain nerves near your spine. If so, a medial branch neurotomy can help relieve your pain.

Learn details about this procedure, which is done to help ease back or neck pain caused by problems with certain nerves near your spine.

Pain can slow healing and keep you from being active. You can work with your healthcare provider to find relief.

A pain scale measures your pain changes for you as a way to keep track of your pain. You can then share this information with your healthcare provider.

Medicines can help to block pain, decrease inflammation, and treat related problems.

Alternative treatments for back pain include massage, chiropractic and acupuncture.

Discuss your pain with your health care provider so you can receive treatment to help you relieve pain or reach a pain level you can live with.

Electrothermal therapy, also known as intradiscal electrothermal therapy, uses heat to change the structure of the tissue inside the disk in your back. It doesn't relieve pain right away. Pain is reduced as the disk heals.

Electrothermal therapy is often done in a hospital or surgery center. You won't need to stay overnight. Before the procedure, you and your healthcare provider will discuss how you need to prepare.

An electrothermal therapy procedure may take up to 2 hours. During the procedure, you'll be awake but relaxed. Read on for details about what to expect.

Learn what to expect after electrothermal catheter therapy, both in the hospital and when you're at home.

A lumbar injection can reduce pain in your back. It can also help find the source of back pain.

A lumbar epidural injection is an outpatient procedure. That means you go home the same day. Here's what you can expect before, during, and after your injection.

Know what to expect as you recover at home from a lumbar epidural injection.

A thoracic epidural injection is a shot that helps ease pain in your upper to middle back (thoracic) area. Medicine is injected into the area around your spinal cord.

A thoracic epidural injection is a shot that helps ease pain in your upper to middle back (thoracic) area. Medicine is injected into the area around your spinal cord.

An intrathecal pain pump implant is a way to relieve some kinds of long-term pain or cancer pain. It sends pain medicine through a thin, flexible tube. The tube is updateed into the space around the spinal cord.

Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) are a type of regional anesthesia. To do the block, a healthcare provider injects numbing medicine into a certain nerve or bundle of nerves. The area below the nerves is then numbed for a time.

Radiofrequency denervation is a treatment for some kinds of lower back and neck pain. It uses an electrical current created by radio waves.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a therapy that uses mild electricity to treat pain.

Opioids are medicines that can help ease pain. They can be used to treat both acute and chronic pain that ranges from moderate to severe.

Opioids are strong medicines that work by blocking or suppressing how your body feels pain. Before prescribing opioids, your healthcare provider will work closely with you to form a treatment plan.

For your health and safety, it's important to take opioids exactly as directed. This helps make sure they work as they should.

When opioids are taken as prescribed, they are often safe and can help manage pain effectively. But these medicines come with risks and side effects that are important to understand.

Spinal cord stimulation is one way to manage various types of pain. A spinal cord stimulator is an implanted device that sends low levels of electricity directly into the spinal cord.

A thoracic epidural injection is a shot that temporarily helps ease pain in your thoracic region. That's the upper to middle part of your back. Medicine is injected into an area around your spinal cord. This area is known as the epidural space.

Dry needling is like acupuncture. A healthcare provider puts needles into painful parts of the body and touches, taps, or pricks tissues to ease pain.

Be gentle with the pump area. Don't pull clothing tightly over it. Don't move too quickly, exercise, or play sports in ways that may jerk the pump around.

It's normal to feel pain at the incision site. The pain decreases as the wound heals. Pain that continues more than a few weeks after surgery or pain that gets worse any time after surgery can be a sign of a problem.

T.E.D. stockings are used to help stop blood clots from forming in the deep veins of your legs. They look like support hose. But they are specially designed to put more pressure on your foot and ankle and less pressure at the upper end of the stocking. They are also called TED hose.