What is a Pain Management Doctor? | Kentuckiana Pain Specialists

What Pain Management Doctors Do & How They Can Help

Struggling With Chronic Pain?

Led by Kentucky’s leading interventional pain specialist, Dr. Ajith Nair, our team is here to help you find lasting, personalized relief.

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When you’re in pain, finding relief can feel like a full-time job. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt; it seeps into every corner of your life, making it tough to focus at work or simply enjoy your time at home. If you’re tired of solutions that only mask the symptoms, it might be time to see a different kind of expert. Pain management doctors are specialists dedicated to finding the real source of your discomfort. A great pain management specialist doesn’t just prescribe medication—they create a comprehensive plan to help you regain function and get your life back.

General physicians have limited knowledge and experience in assisting patients with chronic pain. A primary care physician works on a wide range of conditions throughout the day. So, they don’t have the unique and specialized care that you need to overcome chronic pain issues.

On the other hand, a pain medicine specialist focuses on pain management specifically. This sub-specialty in the medical industry often involves a multi-disciplinary team to deliver optimal results for each patient.

What Do You Call a Doctor Who Specializes in Pain Management?

The truth is that the field of pain medicine is relatively new in the medical industry. When searching for a pain management doctor, you’ll find providers with different types of training and a history working with patients. These providers might be called by different names and titles.

  • Pain management doctor
  • Pain medicine specialist
  • Pain doctor

The common theme is that pain management specialists treat plans caused by trauma, disorders, or disease. Often, the doctors have backgrounds as physiatrists or anesthesiologists.

Experienced pain management doctors understand that the most effective results come through a full-service approach. So, it’s wise for patients to find a local pain management clinic that offers full-service options in one convenient location.

Our team is here to assist with specialized pain management services. Not only do we offer pain management doctors, but our team also partners with other providers to help with your unique needs: alternative medicine specialists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, oncology, psychology, psychiatry, radiology, and more.

Common Titles for Pain Specialists

Interventional Pain Doctor

You might hear the term “interventional pain doctor” and wonder what it means. This is a specialist who focuses on diagnosing and treating painful conditions using targeted, minimally invasive procedures. With a deep understanding of how pain functions in the body, they can evaluate complex issues to find the root cause. The “interventional” part of their title refers to their hands-on approach, using specialized techniques to manage orthopedic and muscular pain directly. Their primary goal is to pinpoint the precise source of your discomfort, which allows for prompt and effective treatment to begin, helping you find relief faster.

Interventional pain management is designed to either alleviate your pain or help other providers, like surgeons, confirm the exact source of the problem. These specialists treat a wide variety of conditions, from chronic back and neck pain to muscle injuries and arthritis. By using advanced treatments and procedures, they can create a personalized plan that addresses your specific needs. This approach often helps patients improve their quality of life and get back to their daily activities without relying on long-term medication or major surgery.

The Role and Approach of a Pain Management Doctor

Focus on Non-Surgical Treatment

A pain management doctor is a specialist dedicated to diagnosing and treating painful conditions, with a primary focus on methods that don’t involve surgery. Unlike a general practitioner who handles a wide variety of health issues, a pain specialist has advanced training to pinpoint the precise source of your discomfort. Their goal is to understand the underlying cause of your joint pain or sciatica and develop a targeted plan to manage it effectively. This specialized approach means you receive care that is specifically tailored to your condition, helping you find relief and improve your quality of life without the long recovery times and potential complications of a surgical procedure.

The Multimodal Approach to Pain Relief

Pain management is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why specialists often use a multimodal approach, which simply means combining several different types of treatments to achieve the best possible outcome. Instead of just prescribing medication to mask the pain, this strategy aims to address the root cause from multiple angles. Your personalized plan might include interventional procedures like epidural steroid injections to reduce inflammation, physical therapy to restore function and strength, and non-opioid medications to manage symptoms. This comprehensive method allows your doctor to create a dynamic treatment plan that can be adjusted as your needs change, giving you a better chance at achieving lasting relief and getting back to the activities you love.

Training and Education Required for Pain Management Specialists

All pain management providers have gone through medical school and completed an internship or residency after finishing the medical program. But the specific training varies depending on the focus chosen after medical school.

For example, many pain management specialists went through a residency program focusing on physical medicine, anesthesiology, psychiatry, or neurology. This additional training typically requires 3 years of in-hospital training as well as advanced pain medicine training through a one-year fellowship.

Most pain medicine specialists are board certified, which means that they completed the board examination for a subspeciality of Pain Medicine.

Once board certification is achieved, it doesn’t mean that the education and training are finished. Experienced doctors understand the importance of ongoing training and education throughout their careers.

In fact, technology and medical advances are changing at a rapid pace, which is why pain management specialists must be proactive about keeping up with the industry. They attend seminars and conferences each year and participate in society meetings and scientific journals.

Understanding “Double-Board-Certified”

When you’re researching specialists, you might see the term “double-board-certified.” This credential signifies an exceptional level of expertise. It means a physician has first completed a residency and become board-certified in a primary specialty, like anesthesiology or neurology. After that, they pursued an additional year-long fellowship focused entirely on pain medicine, earning a second certification. For you as a patient, this dual qualification is a major advantage. It ensures your doctor has a comprehensive understanding of both the underlying conditions causing your pain and the most advanced techniques to manage it, allowing them to develop precise and effective treatment plans for long-term relief.

When to See a Pain Management Specialist

Deciding when to move beyond your primary care doctor for pain can feel like a big step, but it’s often the most effective one. If you’re dealing with persistent pain that isn’t getting better with initial treatments, a specialist can offer a new perspective and more advanced options. They focus entirely on diagnosing and treating pain, giving them a deeper understanding of complex conditions. A pain management doctor can provide targeted care that goes beyond general advice, helping you find a path toward real, lasting relief without immediately jumping to major surgery. It’s about finding the right level of care for your specific situation.

Who Should See a Specialist?

If your pain could be helped by a procedure that is less invasive than surgery, you are an ideal candidate for a pain management specialist. This is especially true for chronic conditions that have lasted for weeks or months without improvement. People with ongoing back pain, persistent neck pain, nerve-related issues like sciatica, or stubborn joint pain from arthritis often find the most success with a specialist. Rather than just masking symptoms, these doctors work to identify the root cause of your pain and develop a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to your body and your lifestyle goals.

Timelines for Seeking Help

While minor aches and pains often resolve on their own, pain that sticks around for more than a week or two is a clear signal to seek professional help. If you’ve tried rest, over-the-counter medications, and other home remedies without seeing any real improvement, it’s time to consult a doctor. For pain that is severe, interferes with your daily activities, or continues to worsen, seeing a specialist sooner rather than later can prevent the condition from becoming more difficult to treat. Don’t feel like you have to “tough it out” for months on end; proactive care is key to recovery.

The Referral Process

Many patients are referred to a pain specialist by their family doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, or a neurologist. This is a common and effective pathway to getting specialized care. However, you don’t always have to wait for a referral to take action. You can often contact a pain management clinic directly to schedule a consultation. At Kentuckiana Pain Specialists, our patient center is set up to help you understand your options and guide you through the process, whether you have a referral or are seeking help on your own for the first time.

What to Expect at Your First Visit

Your first appointment with a pain management specialist is all about getting to know you, your history, and the specifics of your pain. This initial meeting is a crucial first step in building a partnership focused on your well-being. The goal is to move beyond a simple description of symptoms and gain a deep understanding of how pain affects your life. Come prepared to discuss your medical history, any previous treatments you’ve tried, and what you hope to achieve. This comprehensive approach ensures that the treatment plan created for you is as unique as you are, addressing not just the physical sensations but your overall quality of life.

The Initial Consultation

During your first visit, the doctor will conduct a thorough physical exam and have a detailed conversation about your medical history and your pain. You’ll be asked questions about when the pain started, what it feels like, and what makes it better or worse. This is your opportunity to share your full story. The specialist, like our own Dr. Ajith Nair, will listen carefully to understand the complete picture. This conversation, combined with the physical assessment, helps the doctor begin to pinpoint the potential sources of your pain and determine the next best steps for diagnosis and treatment.

Using Procedures for Diagnosis

Sometimes, the best way to understand the source of your pain is through a diagnostic procedure. These minimally invasive techniques can serve a dual purpose: they can provide immediate pain relief while also helping the doctor confirm exactly which nerve or joint is causing the problem. For example, a diagnostic facet joint block involves injecting a numbing agent into a specific joint in the spine. If your pain disappears, it confirms that joint is the culprit. This information is invaluable for creating an effective long-term treatment strategy.

Conditions Treated and Procedures Offered

A key advantage of seeing a pain management specialist is the wide range of conditions they can treat and the advanced procedures they offer. Unlike general practitioners, pain clinics are equipped with the specialized tools and expertise needed to address complex and persistent pain. From spine and nerve issues to post-surgical pain, the focus is on providing targeted relief that helps you regain function and improve your daily life. At Kentuckiana Pain Specialists, we offer a comprehensive suite of treatments and procedures designed to address the specific source of your discomfort, ensuring you receive the most appropriate and effective care possible.

Types of Pain We Treat

Pain management doctors are trained to diagnose and treat many different kinds of pain throughout the body. This includes everything from chronic conditions that have developed over time to acute pain resulting from an injury or surgery. The goal is always to identify the underlying cause and provide targeted relief. By focusing on the specific source of the pain, whether it’s a nerve, a joint, or muscle tissue, specialists can create a much more effective and personalized treatment plan than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Spine and Nerve-Related Pain

Some of the most common issues we see are related to the spine and nerves. This includes conditions like chronic neck pain, low back pain, and sciatica, where pain radiates down the leg. These conditions are often caused by herniated discs, spinal stenosis, or arthritis in the facet joints of the spine. Nerve-related pain can be particularly challenging, but specialists have a deep understanding of the nervous system and can offer treatments that specifically target the irritated or damaged nerves to provide relief.

Pain After Surgery or Injury

Pain that continues long after an injury has healed or surgery has been completed can be incredibly frustrating. This type of chronic post-surgical or post-traumatic pain requires a specialized approach. A pain management doctor can help determine if the ongoing pain is due to scar tissue, nerve damage, or another underlying issue. From there, they can recommend treatments designed to break the cycle of pain and help your body finally complete the healing process, allowing you to move forward and get back to your life.

Headaches and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

Pain specialists also treat more complex and less common conditions, such as chronic headaches or migraines and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). CRPS is a form of chronic pain that usually affects an arm or a leg, typically after an injury or trauma. These conditions require a highly specialized and often multi-faceted approach to manage symptoms. A pain doctor can coordinate a comprehensive plan that may include nerve blocks, medication management, and other advanced therapies to help manage these difficult conditions.

Specific Procedures for Pain Relief

Modern pain management offers a variety of minimally invasive procedures that can provide significant relief without the need for major surgery. These treatments are performed with precision, targeting the exact source of your pain. They are often done on an outpatient basis, meaning you can go home the same day with minimal recovery time. These procedures are a cornerstone of our practice, allowing us to offer effective, low-risk solutions for many different types of chronic pain.

Epidural Steroid Injections

An epidural steroid injection is a common procedure used to treat pain that starts in the spine and radiates to the arms or legs, like sciatica. It involves injecting a powerful anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space around the spinal nerves. This reduces swelling and inflammation, relieving pressure on the nerves and, in turn, reducing your pain. It’s a safe and effective way to get relief and can provide the window needed for your body to heal or for you to engage more effectively in physical therapy.

Radiofrequency Ablation

For pain originating from specific small nerves, such as those connected to the facet joints in the spine, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) can offer long-lasting relief. This procedure uses a specialized needle to deliver heat directly to the nerve that is sending pain signals to your brain. This heat creates a lesion on the nerve, which interrupts the pain signals. The relief from RFA can last for several months to over a year, allowing you to return to your normal activities without constant pain.

Spinal Cord Stimulation

For severe, chronic nerve pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) can be a life-changing option. This advanced therapy involves implanting a small device that sends mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord. These pulses interfere with the pain signals traveling to the brain, replacing the sensation of pain with a more pleasant tingling feeling or, with newer systems, no feeling at all. Patients can try a temporary system first to ensure it works for them before committing to the implant.

Nerve Blocks

A nerve block is an injection of a local anesthetic that can be used for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. By blocking a specific nerve or group of nerves from sending pain signals, a nerve block can provide immediate relief. This can help you function better and participate in physical therapy. It also helps your doctor confirm the exact source of your pain, which is critical for developing an effective long-term treatment plan. Nerve blocks are used for a wide variety of conditions, from spine pain to CRPS.

Medication Management

While procedures are a key part of pain management, medications also play an important role. However, the approach is very different from simply writing a prescription. A pain specialist focuses on using the right medications in the right way to support your overall treatment plan. The goal is to maximize pain relief while minimizing side effects and risks. This involves a thoughtful and strategic approach, often using a combination of different types of medications to target pain from multiple angles.

Non-Opioid Medications

There is a wide array of effective non-opioid medications available for pain management. These can include powerful anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxers to ease spasms, and certain types of antidepressants or anti-seizure medications that are very effective at calming overactive nerves. These medications can be a primary treatment or used to complement interventional procedures. A specialist will work with you to find the right medication and dosage to provide relief without the risks associated with long-term opioid use.

Responsible Opioid Use

While opioids can be effective for severe, short-term pain, such as immediately after surgery, their long-term benefits for chronic pain are less clear, and they come with significant risks. A pain management specialist understands these risks and prioritizes patient safety. When opioids are prescribed, it is typically for a short duration and as part of a broader treatment plan that includes other therapies. The focus is always on finding the safest, most effective long-term solution to manage your pain and improve your function.

Benefits of Working with a Pain Management Specialist

There are undeniable benefits to working with a pain management doctor. Here are a few things you can expect from these services.

  • Additional Certifications and Training: A pain management expert has gone beyond the basic requirements in medical school. They have added extra certifications and training to their title compared to most primary care physicians. This extra education focuses on pain management, giving them unique qualifications for treating chronic pain.
  • Specialized Services and Equipment: When you visit a pain management clinic, they have specialized techniques and tools at their disposal. These tools are helpful for diagnostics and treatment administration. Unfortunately, primary care physicians aren’t equipped to provide patients with this specialized type of care for managing advanced pain conditions.
  • Years of Focused Experience: Since pain management doctors only work with patients experiencing chronic pain, they understand the best protocols and practices to achieve results. You will find that the doctor is more decisive and certain about the best pathway forward because they have already worked with other similar conditions.
  • Range of Treatment Options: Each patient is unique, which means there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for pain management. Your pain management expert has access to many different types of alternative treatments to explore. General physicians are typically limited to pain medications, while pain management specialists can provide many other treatment options.

Pain management doctors have years of experience that enable them to improve the accuracy of diagnosis, then move forward with precise and effective treatment as soon as possible. Patients find the entire experience is more streamlined than their time working with a primary care physician.

Two-Fold Goal for Pain Management

When you visit with a pain management specialist, two focuses are considered for your treatment plan.

The first priority is to help you find relief as soon as possible. You are currently living in pain and desperate to find solutions that can improve your comfort on a daily basis.

Immediately pain management is possible. Once you have a bit of relief, it opens up additional options and other treatment protocols.

Then, the focus turns to long-term results. Not only does your pain management specialist help you get out of pain right now, but they are also working to minimize your discomfort going forward.

You might need to work with a pain management specialist for months or longer. But it’s worth the investment because of the improved lifestyle you can enjoy in the future.

Can a Pain Management Specialist Offer a Cure?

The unfortunate truth is that many chronic pain conditions don’t have options for a cure. Patients are often living with these conditions for the rest of their lives.

But just because there isn’t a cure doesn’t mean that you will be miserable forever. In fact, there are effective ways to help you find relief. The goal is to implement treatments that make you feel as good as possible.

By minimizing the pain right now and preventing flare-ups in the future, many patients can return to a normal lifestyle. A pain management specialist helps you learn to manage the pain so it no longer stops you from the activities you love.

Schedule a Consultation with a Local Pain Expert

If you are tired of living with chronic pain and want to get back to a life you love, then reach out to our team for pain management services. We will book a consultation, giving you the opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with a pain management specialist.

Our team at Kentuckiana Pain Specialists works with patients of all ages. We deliver quality results through a comprehensive pain management program. Not only are traditional medical treatments available, but we also leverage alternative treatments whenever possible.

If you are in the Louisville, Kentucky, area and need pain management services, we invite you to contact us today. Call our office to book your consultation: (502) 995-4004.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a pain management doctor different from my orthopedic surgeon or family doctor? Think of a pain management specialist as a detective for your pain. While your family doctor manages your overall health and a surgeon focuses on surgical fixes, a pain specialist is an expert in diagnosing the precise source of your discomfort. They use a combination of advanced, minimally invasive procedures and comprehensive planning to manage your pain, often helping you avoid surgery altogether. Their entire focus is on improving your function and quality of life through targeted treatments.

I’m worried about becoming dependent on medication. Is that the main form of treatment? This is a common and completely valid concern. The goal of modern pain management is actually to reduce reliance on medication, especially opioids. While medications can be part of a comprehensive plan, our primary focus is on interventional treatments like injections, nerve blocks, and radiofrequency ablation. These procedures target the source of the pain directly, providing relief so you can get back to your life with minimal medication.

What if I don’t know the exact source of my pain? You don’t need to have all the answers before you come in—that’s what we’re here for. A huge part of a pain specialist’s job is to perform a thorough evaluation to pinpoint the root cause of your pain. We often use diagnostic procedures, like injecting a numbing agent into a specific joint or nerve, to confirm exactly where the pain signals are coming from. This diagnostic step is key to creating a treatment plan that actually works.

Do I have to get a referral to see a pain specialist? While many patients are referred by their primary care doctor or another specialist, you don’t always need a referral to schedule a consultation. If you’ve been dealing with persistent pain and feel you need a more specialized approach, you can often contact a clinic directly. Our team can help you understand the process and determine the best first step for your situation.

Are the treatments you offer a permanent cure for my pain? For many chronic conditions, a complete “cure” isn’t realistic. Instead, our goal is to manage the pain so it no longer controls your life. We focus on providing significant, long-term relief that allows you to return to the activities you love. By using targeted procedures and creating a sustainable plan, we help you learn to manage your condition effectively, minimizing flare-ups and maximizing your daily comfort and function.

Key Takeaways

  • Go Beyond General Care for a Precise Diagnosis: A pain specialist has the focused training to pinpoint the exact cause of your pain, leading to a more effective and personalized treatment plan than a general doctor can provide.
  • Explore Advanced, Non-Surgical Solutions: Pain management focuses on minimally invasive procedures, like targeted injections and radiofrequency ablation, to provide significant relief and help you avoid the risks and long recovery of surgery.
  • Don’t Wait for Pain to Become Unmanageable: If your pain persists for more than a couple of weeks or interferes with your life, it’s the right time to seek specialized help. Acting sooner can lead to a faster and more successful recovery.

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