It's Pain Awareness Month: Benefits of an Individualized, Multidisciplinary Treatment Approach

Some days may be better than others, but every day is still a struggle against chronic pain, and you’re tired of the ongoing battle. Nearly 21% of the population (51.6 million people) in the United States are in the trenches with you, but many have found a way through thanks to personalized and integrative pain management plans.

Since September is Pain Awareness Month in the US, the Commonwealth Pain & Spine team wants to focus on why a multidisciplinary, individualized approach to pain management garners such great results.

Pain and beyond

When your pain becomes chronic — it lasts for three months or more — it often moves from a secondary response into a primary problem. In other words, your pain can take on a life of its own and become an illness in its own right.

The second important point is that no two people have the same pain experience. The International Association for the Study of Pain describes chronic pain as multifactorial, with biological, psychological, and social factors all contributing to the issue. This means that pain is a highly personal experience unique to your circumstances.

Emotional distress and functional limitations also characterize chronic pain, making pain only part of a much larger problem.

Addressing pain from every angle

Since pain is so complex, our team understands there’s no magic bullet or one-size-fits-all solution. That said, there are many ways in which we approach pain, and we believe that finding the right combination is best.

For example, to handle the immediate problem, we might try medications or other interventional therapies like neurostimulation that quiet the pain signaling. But we don’t stop there. 

Most of our patients benefit from longer-term pain management therapies, such as:

Physical therapy

By working on strength, balance, and flexibility through physical therapy, we promote overall musculoskeletal health and take the pressure off the painful areas.

Occupational therapy

We focus on how you can navigate your environment and function without pain. Our occupational medicine services also include a rapid return-to-work program.

Personalized care programs

We assign you a registered nurse to oversee your pain management so you can access the personalized care you need.

We also perform a psychological pain assessment to evaluate your mental health, which plays no small role in how you perceive pain.

By addressing your pain from every possible angle — mental, physical, and functional — our goal is to stop pain from being the center of your existence so that you can get to a life you enjoy.

To figure out the best pain management program for your needs and goals, please schedule an appointment at a location near you. We have offices in St. Matthews, Elizabethtown, Lexington, Crestview Hills, Owensboro, and London, Kentucky. We also serve patients in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.