Pain, whether it is acute or chronic, can hopefully be cured. Some medical conditions, however, will vacillate between minimal discomfort to debilitating, even crippling, pain. A pain management specialist diagnoses and treats patients with all types of pain.
Whether pain is the result of a motor vehicle injury, a sports injury, or an age-related condition, it can cause pain and inflammation. Nerves from the affected area transmit pain signals to the brain. The brain then detects the location from where the pain signals originate. This results in the afflicted individual becoming aware of their injured anatomy.
Centers for Neurosurgery, Spine & Orthopedics (CNSO) is a comprehensive pain control medical group with pain management doctors, spine surgeons, brain surgeons, reconstructive surgeons, hand surgeons, and physical therapist doctors who diagnose and treat all nerve, muscle, joint, and spine related conditions. Patients receive the best results and recovery when they seek care for their pain at CNSO because of their ACGME (American College of Graduate Medical Education) board-certified pain management specialists, physical therapists, and expert surgeons.
What Is a Pain Management Specialist and What Is Their Training?
After a physician finishes their four-year residency training in a primary specialty of one of five specialties, they have to be accepted into an accredited pain management fellowship. Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists and anesthesiologists are the primary specialists who are allowed to be considered for the pain management subspecialty training.
Upon acceptance, the physician then completes a yearlong fellowship focused only on pain management injection procedures and medications to eliminate pain. Thereafter, they can become eligible to test for a sub-specialty board certification in pain management. Pain management specialists diagnose and treat patients with acute or chronic pain. They leverage a variety of methods, including medical and alternative therapies, to help patients experience pain relief and stop or significantly reduce any further painful exacerbations. Conditions pain management specialists help treat include:
- Arthritis and osteoarthritis
- Failed Migraine Treatment
- Sciatica
- Pulled or strained muscles
- Knee pain
- Shoulder pain
- Elbow pain
- Arm pain
- Hand pain
- Hip pain
- Neck pain
- Back pain
- Spinal cord injuries
- Fibromyalgia
- Cancer
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
A patient may be referred to a pain management specialist by a doctor to diagnose symptoms and provide the appropriate treatment. Common treatment options may start with over-the-counter and prescription medications or can be resolved with an injection of specific medication near the nerve responsible for the pain. Types of injections include steroid joint, epidural, transforaminal, or caudal. The procedure that is best to eliminate the pain is determined by the pain management specialist.
Pain Management Specialist Training Requirements
Since pain management specialists are physicians, they need to undergo at least 13 years of schooling, including residency and fellowship training to complete pain management certification. The training requirements for a pain management specialist begin with completing an undergraduate degree with a pre-medical school curriculum that includes biology, biochemistry, physical chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. They then must be accepted and graduate from an accredited medical school.
After graduating from medical school, students must take either the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE®) or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) to become licensed to practice medicine as a doctor. Once licensed, the student must undergo a medical residency program that takes three to five years to complete.
During the residency, the young doctors practice medicine under the strict supervision of attending physicians at an academic center. A doctor who hopes to become a pain management specialist must have chosen a related specialty to advance to a pain management sub-specialty. Those initial residency programs are physiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, anesthesiology, and neurology.
Once they complete their residency, prospective pain management specialists must undergo an additional one-year fellowship in pain management and pass the certification exam from the American Board of Pain Medicine (ABPM). Once they have completed all requirements to have earned the certification, they will have to maintain an annual education program of multiple courses called CMEs (Continuing Medical Education) to remain qualified as pain management doctors. The board recertification examination is every 10 years.
Pain Management at CNSO
Patients in New Jersey with neck, back, nerve, and other types of pain can access comprehensive pain management at Centers for Neurosurgery, Spine & Orthopedics. With an award-winning team of pain management physicians, neurosurgeons, orthopedic spine surgeons, physiatrists, rehabilitation specialists, and physical therapists, CNSO offers collaborative and comprehensive care.
The CNSO pain management specialists have dual certifications in physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine and are fellowship-trained in pain management. This allows them to determine the cause and most appropriate treatment so patients experience pain relief. The opiate-free pain management treatments at CNSO include:
- Basivertebral nerve ablation
- Epidural steroid injections
- Intracept® procedure
- Joint injections
- Medial branch block and RFA
- Migraine headaches
- Nerve blocks
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Sacroiliac joint injection
- Sacroiliac joint treatment
- Spinal cord stimulation
- Trigger point injections
- Transforaminal injection
- Vertiflex for lumbar stenosis
Find Relief With a Pain Management Specialist at CNSO
Living life in pain can be prevented. At Centers for Neurosurgery, Spine & Orthopedics, the pain management specialists have earned certifications that demonstrate their dedication to helping patients live their lives to the fullest. They work with the other specialists at CNSO to provide the most comprehensive and compassionate care. Patients in New Jersey experiencing pain can request an appointment with a pain specialist at one of CNSO’s multiple office locations.
