Chronic pain, experienced most days or every day over the past three months, can severely impact daily life. Experts at the WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management emphasize treating the whole person, not just the physical symptoms.
A National Institutes of Health study highlighted that “new cases of chronic pain occur more often among U.S. adults than new cases of several other common conditions, including diabetes, depression and high blood pressure. Among people who have chronic pain, almost two-thirds still suffer from it a year later.”
The WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management uses an approach that combines cutting-edge medical treatments with various therapies. These include individual and group behavioral therapy, nutritional counseling with a registered dietitian, movement therapy with an exercise physiologist and natural treatments like acupuncture, massage therapy and chiropractic care.
Patients undergo an intake process, resulting in a tailored treatment plan that might encompass:
- Acupuncture
- Behavioral medicine
- Chiropractic medicine
- Fast track spine care for neck and back pain
- Interventional therapies
- Massage therapy
- Medical management
- Movement therapy
- Non-surgical and pre-/post-operative knee pain treatments
- Nutritional counseling
For chronic pain, cancer pain or severe spasticity, patients may be candidates for the Medtronic SynchroMed™ III System. The WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management is the first in the region to implant this system. Those with painful diabetic neuropathy might benefit from spinal cord stimulation, a proven treatment.
“Chronic pain can impact every aspect of a person’s life, making participation in and enjoyment of everyday activities impossible,” Richard Vaglienti, M.D., M.B.A., director of the WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management, said. “We treat the whole person so that we can reduce their reliance on prescription pain medication and get them back to the quality of life they so desperately want.”
For more information about the WVU Medicine Center for Integrative Pain Management, visit WVUMedicine.org/Pain or call 855-WVU-CARE to schedule an appointment.
