What Are Three Different Types of Pain Management?

Pain is the body’s signal that something is wrong and can range from a nuisance, like a headache, to debilitating, like degenerative disc disease. Doctors classify pain as acute or chronic. 

Acute pain is severe but short-lived and may signal an injury. Chronic pain ranges from mild to severe and may result from a disease or condition that requires ongoing treatment. 

Effects of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain affects all aspects of a patient’s life. Working, taking care of yourself or others, and having a social life can all be tough while managing chronic pain. In addition, managing both pain and the lifestyle changes that come from pain often leads to depression, anxiety, and trouble sleeping, all of which worsen the pain. 

Managing Pain

Treating pain always begins with identifying and treating the source of the pain. However, sometimes the cause of the pain is either unknown or untreatable. In these scenarios, your healthcare provider turns to managing or treating the pain itself. 

Management of pain depends on many factors, including pain type, cause, and overall physical and mental health. Using their knowledge of your condition, your physician will likely turn to one or more of the three main types of pain management.

Pain Medications

Pain medications fall into two main categories: over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription. While over-the-counter medications are available for purchase by an adult, only a medical professional administers prescription pain medications.

Prescription pain medicines provide more potent relief for patients suffering from chronic or severe pain. They include: 

• Muscle relaxers 
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) 
• Opioids
• Sedatives 
• Anticonvulsants for nerve pain
• Corticosteroids
• Topical products

Every medicine has potential side effects, so a healthcare provider should supervise the use of all pain management drugs.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is an effective treatment for pain management, especially chronic muscle or joint injuries that cause ongoing pain. Targeted exercises and walking, stretching, and strengthening muscles can relieve or eliminate pain. 

Often used in conjunction with heat and ice therapy, massage, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), physical therapy can increase mobility, alleviate stress, and improve a patient’s overall mood. 

Alternative Treatments 

Several holistic pain management treatments have proven successful for specific pain management over time. These include: 

• Acupuncture
• Biofeedback
• Meditation
• Hypnotherapy
• Mindfulness training

While these methodologies work differently to manage pain, they all work with the body’s natural desire to heal itself and help patients manage the stress of living with chronic pain. Some are discovering pain management with regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy. These regenerative cells seek out damaged tissues and inflammation in order to repair and provide a management tool to help reduce pain and inflammation.

Patients suffering from chronic pain may work with all three main approaches to find relief and resume their everyday lives. 

This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine for ALS, also known as Stem cell treatment for ALS. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.