Pain Management Choices

2. Consumers often run into difficulties when choosing between Pain Management Doctors. The choice is often driven by insurers and referrals from primary care doctors. This often leaves the patient feeling helpless and not involved in their own health care decisions. In addition, patients are often unaware of choices they have in how to manage their chronic pain. A common first line of Pain Management is the use of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS). These medications are more benign than the addictive opiates but do pose health risk when used long term. These risks include gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding and kidney damage. This method of management is often covered by insurance.

3. A second and often over utilized method for chronic Pain Management are opiate based medications. These medications are addictive and can lead to organ damage, lower sex hormones, constipation and excess sedation. Again, this method is often covered by insurance. Injections such as epidurals, nerve ablations and trigger points are other methods used for pain control. These are costly and often have coverage limited by insurers. They are also invasive and often require the use of steroid medications which also limit their long term use. Physical therapy is another modality used for pain control. It is sometimes covered by insurance but often limited by insurers in treating chronic conditions. It has the drawback of requiring frequent visits but avoids the possibility of medication side effects.

4. Acupuncture is a under utilized modality for pain treatment. Despite being used for thousands of years, acupuncture comes with some controversy. Many insurance plans will not or have very limited coverage for acupuncture and only with premium plans. Inconsistency in coverage can be found even with government plans. The Defence Department and Veterans Administration use acupuncture. However, Medicaid and Medicare do not cover acupuncture often citing it as “experimental” or “unproven”. Patients need to be informed as to their choices of  Pain Management and understand that their options can often be dictated by insurance coverage. Many times a patient’s health can be better served by avoiding the “my insurance doesn’t cover that” trap. A course of treatment of acupuncture is a sound investment when weighed against the potential detrimental side effects of chronic medication use. At the very least, acupuncture can help decrease the amount of medication needed. At our Marietta Pain management office our goal is to have you “pain free without pills”!  

5. Whether seeking auto injury treatment or a Pain Management Doctor to treat chronic pain, the patients treatment is often guided by a system favouring treatment modalities for monetary reasons and not the patients health. Auto injury attorneys will more often than not, have no problem with a patient receiving opiate based treatment for auto injuries. However, these same attorneys will often refuse to argue on their patients behalf in recouping monies spent on acupuncture treatment. Some will even go so far as to ask that their clients not receive acupuncture. This policy is potentially detrimental to the patient/clients long term health. As there is no risk for dependence or overdose with acupuncture.

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