Pain Management
Chronic pain ' from migraines to foot cramps ' affects 86 million -- or one out of three ' Americans each year. This relatively new area of medical management is long overdue, as many healthcare professionals have not been trained to address it, and may even have a hard time recognizing the signs of patient suffering. Some professionals or institutions are also overly concerned about the possibility of addiction, and diverted by their wariness of controlled substances.
The good news, however, is that today there are several powerful tools available to offer relief to patients, whether their pain stems from their disease, surgery or treatment and rehabilitation regimen.
Sentara Healthcare has three Pain Management Units (PMU's) located at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Sentara CarePlex. These units treat patients suffering from acute and chronic pain problems, including a wide variety of conditions such as back pain, sciatica, spinal stenosis, herniated discs, shingles, post-herpetic neuralgia and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. PMU's specialize in cancer pain management as well as spasticity of spinal origin. Treatment plans are carefully tailored to the individual needs of each patient, with the overall goal to facilitate reduction of pain, educate the patient and improve function and quality of life. Treatments range from injections and invasive procedures to medications and physical therapy. The units operate as an outpatient service, and offer inpatient consultations as needed. Participating physicians are sub-specialty anesthesiologists who are board-certified in painmanagement.
For more information on the Pain Management Units at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, please call (757) 388-3485.
For more information on the Sentara CarePlex Center for Pain Medicine, please call (757) 827-2125.
For additional information on pain management, or to find a support group nearest you, call:
The American Chronic Pain Association: (916) 632-0922
The National Chronic Pain Outreach Association: (301) 652-4948
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