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

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

When you are in pain, the symptoms often come with a desperate desire to find relief. Chronic pain has an undeniable impact on every area of your life, making it a challenge to perform at work and home.

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.

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.

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.