Medical anesthesiologists are doctors who specialize in anesthesia, pain management, and intensive care medicine. While all anesthesiologists know how to treat pain, some choose to specialize in pain relievers and are specially trained and experienced in caring for people with chronic pain. Find out how anesthesiologists can help you safely and effectively manage pain from surgery, injury, labor, or chronic conditions. Pain can be debilitating and frustrating.
May interfere with sleep, work, activities, and quality time with friends and family.
pain management
provides relief so you can enjoy life. However, treatment is complex and can cause harmful effects if not properly administered and monitored. That's why pain management may require the participation of an anesthesiologist who specializes in pain relievers.Learn about their services, including the types of pain they treat and how. Not all pain is treated with opioids. Explore other medications and non-pharmacological treatments that anesthesiologists use to provide effective pain management. An interventional pain anesthesiologist must have dual certification in both anesthesiology and pain management.
This type of doctor can treat all levels of pain using minimally invasive techniques, such as injection therapy, radiofrequency ablation, or spinal cord stimulation. An anesthesiologist can also diagnose and treat patients suffering from acute and chronic pain syndromes. Some anesthesiologists complete Pain Fellowships and focus their medical practice on performing injections (such as epidural steroid injections) to help relieve pain for patients with ongoing pain. These specialists are often referred to as pain management specialists or pain medicine specialists.
Many years ago, anesthesiologists took care of everything from prescription pain management to procedures. Now, anesthesiology and pain management specialties are separate, and it's important to know the differences when selecting a provider. Michael Gesquiere is the founding partner and president of Peak Anesthesia and Pain Management. He is originally from Michigan and began his training at Michigan State University.
Gesquiere completed medical, surgical, anesthesia and interventional training at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. After completing his extensive training, research and publications, he successfully completed three certifications from the American Society of Anesthesiology, American Board of Pain Management, and American Academy of Pain Management. Gesquiere specializes in treating chronic and acute pain conditions using an evidence-based algorithmic approach for each patient. He is an active member of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), the International Neuromodulation Society (INS), the American Society for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management (ASRA), the Colorado Pain Society (CPS) and is a faculty instructor for the American Society for Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN).
Domashevich specializes in the treatment of complex regional pain syndromes, lumbar and cervical degenerative disc disease, spondylosis, migraines. He is trained and performs all currently available interventional pain management procedures, including placement of spinal cord stimulators, radiofrequency ablation, prolotherapy, epidural steroid injections, etc. Smolenski earned his medical degree from Wayne State University, did his residency at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, completed an anesthesia-based pain medicine fellowship, and is board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pain Management. McLaughlin-Abrams is originally from Vancouver, Canada, and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia.
He received his medical degree from the Rocky Vista University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Colorado. Upon graduation, he completed his internship in Internal Medicine at St. He completed both his Anesthesiology residency and his Interventional Chronic Pain fellowship at the University of Colorado. She is certified in anesthesiology and pain management by the American Board of Anesthesiology.
In some cases, a PCP may have managed an ailment for years with conservative treatment, and then refers you directly to a pain specialist when the situation becomes chronic. Administratively, I spend time focusing on a variety of topics as the health system director for pain management strategy and opioid surveillance. Most low back pain doesn't need imaging, and doing so can reveal incidental findings that divert attention and increase the risk of having surgery that doesn't help. American Society of Anesthesiologists Working Group on Chronic Pain Management, American Society for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.
A medical specialist in pain management is especially helpful in navigating the many new regulations and laws related to pain medications (more on that later). Interventional pain anesthesiologists provide treatments such as epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablation, spinal cord stimulation, facet joint injections, lumbar sympathetic plexus blocks, and trigger joint injections. Interventional pain management is different from other pain management practices because it emphasizes the importance of an accurate diagnosis so that treatment can begin immediately. While pain specialists treat a litany of ailments, spinal disorders, including herniated discs in the lumbar (back) or cervical (neck) spine, are the most common problems.
Rather than just prescribing medications or just recommending physical therapy, an interventional pain management specialist uses all sources of treatment to eliminate pain as quickly and effectively as possible for each individual patient. Walia says a pain specialist will work with your other doctors to provide you with a multidisciplinary plan, whether it's physical therapy, appropriate medications, injection therapy, or surgery. For example, a patient receiving methadone for chronic pain would see a medical specialist in pain management, not an interventional doctor for pain management. Note where the pain is, how it feels, how often the pain is, if certain positions make it worse, or if certain positions help relieve symptoms.
He has a particular interest in managing cancer pain and believes that it is very important that care be focused on the patient's pain, fatigue, and distress. In most cases, your doctor will recommend stopping your current medications before undergoing a procedure. Since its founding in 1905, the Society's achievements have made it an important voice in American medicine and the foremost advocate for all patients requiring anesthesia or pain relief. Chou R, Qaseem A, Snow V, Casey D, Cross JT, Shekelle P, Owens DK; American College of Physicians Clinical Effectiveness Evaluation Subcommittee; American College of Physicians; American Pain Society Low Back Pain Guidelines Panel.
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