Author: McLaren Flint
Pain is a natural component of the healing process following illness, injury, or surgery. However, if pain persists, is more intense than normally expected, or lacks a discernible cause, it becomes its own “condition” and merits treatment.
The Pain Management Center at McLaren Flint consists of pain specialists who believe that, with an accurate diagnosis, pain can be eliminated or effectively managed.
“Pain can severely disrupt a person’s life from interfering with work, impacting sleep patterns, and cause feelings of depression, frustration, or anxiety,” said Stefanie DiCea, physician assistant at the McLaren Flint Pain Management Clinic. “Our goal is to manage or eliminate pain so our patients can get back to doing the things they love.”
There are five common types of pain, but some pain can fit into more than one category.
Acute pain: Acute pain is relatively short in duration, lasting from minutes to as long as six months. Acute pain also tends to be related to a soft-tissue injury or a temporary illness, so it typically subsides after the injury heals or the illness subsides.
Chronic pain: Chronic pain is longer in duration and can be intermittent or constant. Chronic pain is often due to a health condition, like arthritis, fibromyalgia, or a spine condition.
Neuropathic pain: Neuropathic pain is due to damage to the nerves or other parts of the nervous system. It is often described as shooting, stabbing, or burning pain, or it feels like pins and needles. It can also affect sensitivity to touch and can make someone have difficulty feeling hot or cold sensations.
Nociceptive pain: Nociceptive pain is caused by damage to body tissue. It is often described as a sharp, achy, or throbbing pain. This type of pain is caused by an external injury. This type of pain is often experienced in the joints, muscles, skin, tendons, and bones. It can be both acute and chronic.
Radicular pain: Radicular pain occurs when a spinal (sciatic) nerve gets compressed or inflamed. It’s commonly known as sciatica. This type of pain, known as radiculopathy, radiates from the back and hip into the leg(s), and also occurs in the arms. It is often constant and steady. Symptoms associated with radicular pain are tingling, numbness, and muscle weakness.
Pain Management providers not only look for a solution to relieve current pain, but also for the source of the problem. Individuals typically can benefit from chronic pain management that suffer from:
Spine and Joint
- Chronic neck or back pain
- Degenerative Disc Disease, Herniated Disc, Spinal stenosis
- Arthritis- Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Myofascial pain syndrome
- Cancer pain
- Post-surgical chronic pain
- Post-fracture pain
Neuropathic (nerve) pain
- Sciatica- Sacroiliac joint nerve pain
- Spinal nerve blocks
- Peripheral nerve pain
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Postherpetic neuralgia (shingles pain)
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
Head and Facial pain
- Occipital nerve block
- Stellate Ganglion block
“Pain is diagnosed in a combination of ways,” said Stefanie. “Most often, it is from patients who report symptoms, usually during a visit with their primary medical doctor. Pain can also be diagnosed by clinical evaluation, physical examination, and sometimes by diagnostic tests. Since pain is subjective, its assessment relies heavily on how the patient describes it.”
Below is how healthcare providers typically diagnose and evaluate pain, along with a patient’s health history:
- Location/Onset: Where is the pain? When did it start? Was there an injury that precipitated the pain?
- Character/ Description: Is it sharp, dull, throbbing, electric, burning, etc.? What is the severity? How bad is it, most often rated on a scale of 0-10?
- Aggravating /Relieving Factors: What makes it better or worse? What impact does it have? Does the pain interfere with daily activities, sleep, or mood?
- Duration: How long has the pain been present? Is the pain chronic? (lasting longer than the typical healing time or greater than 3 months)?
Additionally, patients will have a physical examination, do any diagnostic testing needed, such as X-rays, CT scans, or MRI scans, along with a psychological review of their emotional well-being.
McLaren Pain Management Clinic offers various treatment options including:
- Medication management: NSAIDS (anti-inflammatory), muscle relaxers, Opioids (used cautiously), anticonvulsants, prescription pain creams
- Interventional Procedures: Joint injections, nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablations, Rhizotomy, and trigger point injections
- Physical therapy: Aqua therapy, massage therapy, myofascial release, dry needling
- Implantable Device: Spinal Cord Stimulator, peripheral nerve stimulators
Contact information for the McLaren Flint Pain Management Clinic can be found here, or for physical therapy options, click here.