Pain Management FAQ

  1. Who can benefit from Pain Management?
  2. What are the different types of treatment?
  3. How do I live with chronic pain?
  4. Who practices Pain Management?
  5. What is the difference between an M.D. and a D.O.?
  1. Who can benefit from Pain Management?Top
    Pain Management can treat recurring pain that follows surgery, spine problems, pain associated with cancer or cancer treatment, neuropathic diseases and injuries such as whiplash.
     
  2. What are the different types of treatment?Top
    Chronic pain may be treated with a variety of tools, including injections, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, exercise and psychological treatments. Patients take an active role in their own treatment, providing feedback to help the specialist design the most effective plan possible.
     
  3. How do I live with chronic pain?Top
    Pain Management therapy can greatly reduce a patient’s pain and provide coping strategies that keep pain from being intolerable. Although some types of chronic pain can never be completely eliminated, pain management can bring significant relief to many people.
     
  4. Who practices Pain Management?Top
    Pain management draws specialists from many different medical fields. Specialists may have a background in anesthesiology, physical therapy, neurology or psychology. Pain management practitioners work closely with a patient’s doctors and nurses to create a plan that is tailored to each patient’s needs. The Pain Management doctors at Virginia Brain and Spine Center are trained anesthesiologists.
     
  5. What is the difference between an M.D. and a D.O.?Top
    An M.D. is an allopathic physician while a D.O. is an osteopathic physician. There are many similarities between M.D.s and D.O.s such as they both attend medical colleges, they both have to complete four years of basic medical education, and they both practice in fully accredited and licensed health care facilities. Some of the differences are that D.O.s practice a “whole person” approach to medicine, they focus on preventive health care, and they receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system.