Overview

Interventional Pain Medicine is a sub-specialty where the Physician has been extensively trained in a fellowship program lasting 1-2 years on proper procedures and techniques to diagnose and treat painful conditions. The role is not that of a mere technician (that is only one part), but a member of a diagnostic team.

The interventional pain physician conducts a full history and physical examination then correlates all interventional diagnostics with that examination and history, assisting the other members of your health care team in determining what is causing a patient's pain.

This is quite distinct from the old days when patients were referred to the hospital, showed up for a procedure done by a physician they never met before, and then returned to their family doctor's office having had a procedure with no exam or follow-up.

Furthermore, if your diagnosis is one that does not require surgery, say, a facet joint that is painful, then the interventional pain physician has interventional treatments that can be quite effective (like rhizotomy). Interventional pain medicine performs a whole range of diagnostic injections such as epidural injections and facet joint blocks; minimally invasive treatments such as intradiscal thermal therapy; as well as palliative treatments such as spinal cord stimulation, nerve root stimulation, and intrathecal medication delivery.

When your primary care physician cannot pinpoint the source of your pain, it may be best to seek the care of a pain specialist such as an interventional pain medicine physician. This physician can then help you determine whether you have a carpentry or electrical problem and assist you in obtaining the proper treatment.