Information on Pain Clinics.

I was wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with Pain Clinics

The reason I am asking is my niece has just started a 10 week session at one and is seems to be making things worse then better. Now it could be one of those situations were it will get worse before it gets better but no one at the clinic seems to be willing to offer much information on whether this is part of the process or not. So any experiences from someone who went through it would be appreciated.

She was in a car accident 2 years ago and suffers of soft tissue damage in her lower back. This clinic is sort of the last stop for her, she will suffer from chronic pain for the rest of her life and she has put a lot of hope into this being helpful in dealing with the pain.

I feel so sorry for her she's just turned 27 and this is a lot for anyone to deal with especially someone so young.

Originally Posted by tierre0

She was in a car accident 2 years ago and suffers of soft tissue damage in her lower back. This clinic is sort of the last stop for her, she will suffer from chronic pain for the rest of her life and she has put a lot of hope into this being helpful in dealing with the pain.

Click to expand...

I was off work for 4.5 years with all kinds of issues, one being severe chronic pain that was bone deep. I was referred to a pain clinic.

The doctor did a whole bunch of blood tests, some of which I'd never even heard of. The results came back as my having a severe Vitamin D deficiency. Very severe. My body was almost entirely depleted of it. She put me on high doses of Vitamin D twice a week for 6 months, followed by a lifetime daily maintenance dose of 1,000 to 3,000 iu per day depending on the season and how much time I spend outside in the sun.

I was virtually pain free when I returned to work last year in September!

My back has bothered me for years thanks to a few car accidents, work related accidents and stress from doing resistance training at the gym last year for my physiotherapy.

I started going back to my chiropractor in June last year because my back started to bother me once I started to do more resistance training at the gym. I had tried physiotherapy for my back problems before but while it helps a little, I find my chiropractor gets me better results sooner than physiotherapy does.

By October my back was feeling pretty good! Then I got into a car accident towards the end of October. That set me back to square one with my back.

I increased my visits to my chiropractor from 1 visit every 2 weeks for maintenance back to 3 times per week. By March my back was still bothering me and the chiropractic treatments while they were helping a little, they weren't lasting more than a day or two. And my back was so tight that my chiropractor had a hard time doing my adjustments.

I decided to start massage therapy too. I am going to a fellow who is excellent! He does deep tissue massage, and initially it was very painful. But now when I go while there are a few spots on my back that still hurt a little when he works the deep muscles, for the most part the massage mostly feels good and relaxing.

I also noticed that my back started to hurt less and that my chiropractor was able to do better adjustments.

I've been going to the massage therapist every 2 weeks and I haven't had need to go to my chiropractor for about 6 weeks now. I will go next week though. I took a tumble a few weeks ago and I feel like a need an adjustment but I just haven't had a chance to get there.

I would highly suggest that she get a Vitamin D test done, and look into massage therapy in combination with a chiropractor. Better to do the massage followed by the chiropractor visit that way the muscles are loose for the chiropractor to work with.

Thanks, I will tell her about the Vitamin D deficiency I don't think she has ever been tested for that.

She has done massage and goes to the chiropractor as well. They both have given her some temporary relief.

It's a very frustrating situation for her.

Originally Posted by tierre0

She was in a car accident 2 years ago and suffers of soft tissue damage in her lower back. This clinic is sort of the last stop for her, she will suffer from chronic pain for the rest of her life and she has put a lot of hope into this being helpful in dealing with the pain.

I feel so sorry for her she's just turned 27 and this is a lot for anyone to deal with especially someone so young.

Click to expand...

I have no advice on the pain clinics as I have not been to one. But I can sympathise with her. My work related back injury happened when I was 28yrs old, then my hands/wrists/elbows not a year later. I too, have to live with this for the rest of my life, there are only certain things that surgery can fix (part of my arm issue). Chronic pain in simple terms, SUCKS. (btw, I'm 32 now)

many to her, it is hard to adjust.... it does eventually get easier though (emotionally I mean).

I'd like to hear about this too. I'm not sure if it's same kind of clinic, but I have an apointment to the pain clinic in september. I haven't been in an accident or things like that, I just have horrible pain 'seizures' (don't know what I should call them) and I've been through many many tests and endoscopies and nothing has been found.

I have fibromyalgia which is notorious for being difficult to treat and misunderstood by doctors and the public. I always have a healthy distrust of doctors. I do a TON of research of my own and temper that with what my doctors have to say on the matter. The trick is finding a doctor that will actually like the fact that you have questions and want to know the WHYS. They can be found!

If they are not answering her questions satisfactorily that is a red flag IMHO. She certainly doesn't need them to be doing MORE damage. I don't know much about soft tissue back injury but I do know that pain clinics can be helpful. But she is not going to feel better if she doesn't know what the heck is going on. She needs to know WHY they are treating her with whatever they are treating her and what effects she will be experiancing while the treatment is ongoing and what is the expected outcome after the weeks are done.

Do research, ask questions and require satisfactory answers!

btw: I am 29 and have been fighting pain for 16 years.

HIJACK for a quick moment

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

I have fibromyalgia which is notorious for being difficult to treat and misunderstood by doctors and the public........

btw: I am 29 and have been fighting pain for 16 years.

Click to expand...

I had to look at your location because a friend of mine when I was in college also has fibro...same situation as you, she was 17 when I met her, and dealing with it for several yrs. Luckily she was blessed to find a doctor who didn't think fibro was "made-up". Out of the 9 paired points for testing, she was positive in all 9 I felt so bad for her.


Back to your regular scheduled topic.

I would also like to know about pain clinics. I think around here it is called "pain management".

Not to hijack the thread, but I was hit by a truck last year, I had a broken femur. I am STILL in pain from that. I had to start seeing a new orthopedic surgeon, bc the one who did the original surgery wont see me anymore for insurance reasons, and my inability to pay her out of pocket. So, I had a surgery date set up, hoping that it would eventually help the cause of the pain. Recently, my surgeon has declared that I don't need surgery anymore, and that it is probably nerve damage that is causing me pain. I've been switching around family docs who might be willing to help me, but I can't find any. My surgeon recommened more PT, but I have been through that, and it causes me more pain than anything, especially when I have no pain relievers that will work. I opted against PT but many have suggested I try pain management, but I don't really know how to go about it. I'm afraid the people there will not believe me. My own boyfriend doesn't believe I'm still in pain.

Originally Posted by Paulena

Like someone said, some people think you are making it up.

Click to expand...

This is what most people think about me. My family and relatives think I'm making it up to get attention. I've had 7 different doctors, and almost all of them think I'm making it up just to get prescription painkillers or something. Worst of them being the one who's the most educated and spesialised and who was supposed to be some über doctor. The first time he saw me he told me he doesn't believe I'm sick because I'm young (24) female?!

Thanks everyone for your comments and observations.
It's ironic that everyone has had similar situations of people not believing them about how much pain they are in because that is one of the things that frustrates my niece the most how many people think she's either faking or just wants attention.
She also to has had doctors think she was just looking for meds which really upset her.
I did tell her that she needs to sit down with her therapist and find out exactly what she should expect from this treatment. I think if they took the time to explain to her that what the progression of it was she might feel more confident.
I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for her