Chronic non-cancerous pain is a difficult condition to treat, and I won’t even begin to claim to be an expert at doing so. What makes it more challenging is that pain is different than other chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure. There are specific measures we can look at to determine how we should treat those, if we need to be more aggressive or back off on some medications. But it’s hard to quantify pain.
Basing a patient’s pain on an MRI report, for example, isn’t always accurate. I once had a patient come in with a back MRI that looked like he should have been in a wheelchair, but he didn’t want medication; all he wanted was a prescription for a cane. Another person may have a small rotator cuff tear which results in a significant amount of pain and limits his or her daily activities.
The most important thing to do when you have pain depends on the nature of the pain. If you had an injury before it started, such as a fall or accident, you should seek medical care. The vast majority of patients who walk into our office with pain, just want advice on how to deal with it and reassurance that it will go away by itself after a few days or weeks.
The most important thing to do when you have pain depends on the nature of the pain. If you had an injury before it started, such as a fall or accident, you should seek medical care. The vast majority of patients who walk into our office with pain, just want advice on how to deal with it and reassurance that it will go away by itself after a few days or weeks.
Believe it or not, the best way to start treatment for chronic pain is with no medication at all. All medications, even over the counter ones, have side effects. The best things to do instead are to apply heat or ice to the site of your pain, do regular stretching, try massage, or even see a chiropractor. If you need something stronger, you can use muscle cream such as BenGay or Icy Hot. Exercise and strengthening are invaluable to controlling pain.