Pain relief and management look different to many people–some find medication helpful, others require surgery, and many just learn to “live with it.” 

Chronic pain should not mean sacrificing your overall well-being. In fact, we believe quite the opposite. At Pain Specialists of Charleston, our goal is to help you reclaim your quality of life and find the most relief for your chronic pain–but not in the way you may think. 

Read more: What Does a Pain Management Physician Do? 

Keep reading to find out what a pain management physician is, and how we can help you find relief without surgery or habit-forming drugs. 

What is a Pain Management Physician? 

An interventional pain management physician is a board-certified medical doctor who specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of painful conditions. We treat sudden onset pain problems, such as a headache or muscle spasm, as well as many degrees of chronic, long-term pain. 

Our pain management physicians work to alleviate and manage pain through interventional techniques and the latest medical research available.

What is Interventional Pain Management? 

Interventional pain management is a medical specialty that uses pain-blocking techniques to help get you back to activities that once brought you joy. 

Some of the most common techniques used in precise, x-ray-guided interventional pain management include: 

  • Injections – We administer steroid injections to help alleviate painful conditions. Each injection targets different pain areas in the body and works to reduce inflammation. 
  • Nerve Blocks – When you experience pain, the area sends signals that travel down nerve pathways to the brain. Nerve blocks intercept these signals and provide relief. 
  • Medical Massage Therapy – Medical massage is a form of therapy designed to specifically target pain as diagnosed by one of our pain management physicians. 
  • Neuro Stimulation – A new technique that alters pain signals as they travel to the brain. This is not to be confused with a TENS unit.
  • Radiofrequency Ablation – This technique specifically focuses on the lower back and neck. A radio wave produces an electrical current, which disrupts the pain signal from the affected area.

Other techniques can include various forms of stimulation treatment and clinical trials. After diagnosis, our specially trained medical physicians will work with you to determine the safest and most effective treatment plan for you.

Types of Pain Treated by a Pain Management Physician

Our pain management specialists work with patients experiencing a variety of painful conditions, but the most common forms can be grouped into the following categories: 

Acute Pain 

Acute pain starts suddenly and typically lasts for a short period. It is typically brought on by a specific event or injury, such as a car accident, surgery, or a slip and fall. 

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a type of pain that continues long after the original injury has healed and is typically linked to long-term conditions. Chronic pain can vary in severity and is often found linked to post-surgical back pain, neck pain, and arthritis, among others. 

Tissue Damage 

Tissue damage occurs when your body’s tissues are injured, most often as a result of a disease or physical injury. Injuries from playing sports or working can result in acute tissue damage, but chronic conditions like facet joint syndrome (arthritis) can lead to pain-inducing tissue damage. 

Nerve Damage 

Damage to the nerves can cause pain signals to be disrupted or misinterpreted. For example, your hand may feel a burning sensation even though there is no heat. 

Chronic regional pain syndrome, shingles, and other types of neuropathic pain, such as diabetes-related neuropathy, involve damage to the nerves. 

What Can I Expect From Pain Management Specialists?

Our first step to getting you back to your everyday routine and on the way to a life with less pain is a thorough evaluation. A pain specialist near you will perform a thorough evaluation, including a physical exam and questions regarding your medical history and current symptoms. 

An MRI may be needed to help diagnose the source of your pain. Once our board-certified medical doctors have gotten to the root of your pain, we will determine the best course of treatment to help you reclaim–or discover–a life with less pain. 

We’ll also work with your insurance company–including TRICARE–to ensure your treatment is covered.

Schedule Your Visit with Pain Specialists of Charleston Today

As the leading pain management clinic near you, we work to get to the root cause of your pain and establish innovative, non-surgical treatment approaches to help you live a more full and active life. 

Whether you are a patient suffering from recent injuries or have endured a lifetime of surgeries and physician visits, you deserve to feel relief. 

Serving patients throughout the Charleston, SC area, our pain management clinic offers a multidisciplinary team approach aimed at providing the highest quality care through non-surgical treatment. 

Request an appointment at Pain Specialists of Charleston today–no referral necessary!