Narcotic medications are somewhat of a double-edged sword it appears. They are great to kill the chronic pain, but they aren't meant for long-term use. This may be why days gone by decade has seen a steep rise in dependence on them. So when the medical society is now more keenly alert to this problem, more physicians are leery about prescribing them. As such, a person with chronic back pain suffers, unless, their doctor gets the foresight to refer them to a pain management center. Referrals to a pain management center can be made by any primary care provider or a specialist such as a rheumatologist. Is this your doctor passing the buck since they don't want to cope with you? Never! If your primary care or rheumatologist refers you to a pain management center, it really is in your very best interest. A facility that is create as interdisciplinary center, usually associated with hospitals or have an affiliation with a medical university will be able to help manage your pain - with limited or no medication Because they're usually of a hospital, there are medications such as pain narcotics available. But they will first look for methods to manage your pain without them. What experts in these facilities have found is that too often, narcotics like pain killers can cause a bunch of other problems. How Do These Facilities Help? You will end up assigned to a team of specialists. They will review the files your primary care or rheumatologist sends them and they will do their own preliminary examinations and testing. Browse around this site may include blood build up, MRIs, x-rays, etc. After they have all this information gathered, the team will review it and speak to you about your health background. What therapy or treatments you have had and how they worked or didn't work. You have to be completely honest and open using them about any part of your medical history and your lifestyle. They will then discuss this among themselves and develop a plan which will be handled through the pain management center. You may assign to a chiropractor or physical therapist. You might have meetings with a physiologist or psychiatrist. The team may feel that you could reap the benefits of a massage therapist. The goal of a pain management center would be to exhaust all other method of managing your pain without narcotics. In some cases, you will see some medications prescribed in very small doses for a limited time to work with the other therapies or treatments. Why The Hesitation Of Medications? A pain management center is based on what research has found. And research studies have found that people actually will experience an increase in pain if they are on narcotics. Medication can transform the way the human body's endorphin system works. Endorphins are the natural pain killer. Granted, there are those who can and can benefit from narcotics, but to automatically assume this is the only solution to manage pain is really a mistake. Narcotic analgesics and opioids are addictive to some patients. And there is also the concern of how their interaction with other medications. For an RA patient, opioids won't treat their inflammation and for patients with fibromyalgia and the widespread pain that comes with, opioids only ensure it is worse. THIS IS THE REASON Self-Management Is Important Most rheumatologists will tell their patients that a chronic pain management center is the greatest help, particularly when the RA patient becomes an active partner in reaching that pain relief. A 2009 study found that most RA patients that have gone to this type of facility found that the many mind/body techniques used in these centers helped them find ways to adjust their lifestyle and manage their pain. As a Freelance Writer the past 8 years, Audrey has written on a number of different topics in a number of industries. Her 30
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