Pain Management Starts With Collaborative Care

While spinal and back pain is a common reason to seek help, patients come to collaborative back carespecialists for a wide range of problems from neuropathy and osteoarthritis to sports injuries and post-operative pain. The pain management team has a wide range of treatment options.

For example, some patients are undergoing new, minimally invasive collaborative back care techniques such as the Vertiflex Superion device for spinal stenosis, or spinal cord stimulation to treat long-standing neuropathies or postoperative pain, some are trying new uses for older medications, such as low-dose naltrexone and some pursue integrative options, like acupuncture.

Our Approach - Pearson & Weary

Current discussions about pain management often turn to the prescription and use of opiates. This class of drugs can occasionally help treat patients with specific post-operative or cancer-related pain, but the Division is of the mindset that their use can ultimately lead to depression, worsening function, dependency, and addiction.

The collaborative back care approach focuses on the use of anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, minimally invasive procedures, and surgery when needed, to improve patients’ quality of life.