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New Iberia, LA, home to the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival, El Festival Española, the Cajun Hot Sauce Festival, the Acadiana Dragon Boat Races and the World Championship Gumbo Cook-Off, is full of surprises for locals and tourists alike. Our great city’s diverse population appreciates the area’s many concerts, performing arts productions, botanical gardens and museums as much as we do its vibrant nightlife. Unfortunately, though, not all members of our local population are able to head out as often as they’d like to check out the sights.
Over 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain that causes them to miss out on fun social events and family occasions and even have difficulty performing basic daily tasks, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Those who live in and around New Iberia know it can be difficult to find ways to manage this pain alone. That’s where our dedicated, multidisciplinary team of pain management doctors comes in if you’re looking for “pain management near me.”
Combating the Unpleasant Effects of Chronic Pain
The American Pain Foundation offers some insight into the difficulties of living with chronic pain, including lack of control and a severe negative impact on study respondents’ ability to enjoy their daily lives. More than three-quarters of those who suffer from chronic pain report feeling depressed, while 70% of respondents reported difficulty concentrating and 74% said that their energy levels were affected by their chronic pain. There’s no need for you to suffer in silence, though. Our experienced team of pain specialists is here to offer you the help you need to restore control over your daily life and find ways to more effectively manage your pain.
The Importance of Multidisciplinary Care
One recent National Institute of Health Statistics survey has shown that lower back pain constitutes the most common complaint among patients suffering from chronic pain. Severe headaches and migraines, neck pain and joint pain are all common conditions both locally and across the country as well. There is good news for those who want pain relief from these common conditions.
Taking a multidisciplinary approach to lower back pain treatment that includes physical therapy, massage therapy, nutritional counseling and exercise counseling in addition to targeted prescription medications has been shown to be more effective than medical interventions alone. Similarly, joint pain relief is more attainable for patients suffering from arthritis and other joint conditions when they seek comprehensive, multidisciplinary therapy. The same is true for patients suffering from chronic headaches, diabetic neuropathy, and a diverse array of other diseases and disorders.
Recognizing Symptoms
The ways patients experience chronic pain are as diverse, if not more diverse, than the conditions that cause it. Some patients report a dull ache or a throbbing pain, while others describe burning sensations, stinging, soreness and muscle stiffness. Chronic pain often comes with an entire host of other unpleasant symptoms as well, including lack of energy, decreased appetite, trouble sleeping, mood changes, weakness and fatigue.
The first step toward establishing an effective treatment plan is to diagnose and treat the underlying condition causing your pain. This involves taking a detailed medical history and a catalog of all of your symptoms and may require diagnostic imaging such as MRIs, X-Rays, CT scans or radioisotope bone scanning. We have access to the equipment required to capture these images so we can quickly and accurately diagnose your condition so we can develop a treatment plan as soon as possible.
Recommended Treatments
We know that just like every patient is different, every patient’s pain is different and will require a unique management plan. Our dedicated pain management doctors offer everything from physical therapy and massage therapy to intra-articular joint injects and even customized pharmaceutical formulations. You can rest assured that no matter what the cause of your pain, we’ll be able to help you find a way to manage it better and find relief. It is difficult to describe an average therapy plan because each patient receives fully customized treatment intended to best meet his or her unique needs, but each suggestion we make regarding treatment modalities is firmly-rooted in scientific evidence and medical experience.
Patient education lies at the heart of any treatment plan. For those suffering from neuropathy pain due to diabetic neuropathy, this may involve nutritional counseling, exercise counseling, or recommendations as to lifestyle changes that can help such as quitting smoking. Similarly, those looking for headache relief can often benefit from learning more about what triggers different kinds of headaches and how they can learn to identify their unique triggers in order to avoid them.
Managing Acute Pain
Not all of our patients come to us looking for “chronic pain management doctors near me.” Many of them are instead looking for assistance recovering range of motion and addressing acute pain due to a recent surgery, accident or injury. These patients may be able to benefit from our occupational rehabilitation programs, whiplash and car accident treatments, and work conditioning in addition to targeted medical and pharmaceutical interventions.
Extensive research on the subject has shown that many patients recovering from acute injuries can benefit as much from physical therapy as they do from prescription painkillers when it comes to managing their pain. We believe firmly that all of our patients have the right to best possible treatment, which is why we offer a wide array of different treatment modalities. Often, it is possible to reduce prescription drug use through establishing targeted exercise and stretching regimes, enlisting the help of a massage therapist, and using other non-pharmaceutical therapies. In some cases, it is possible to eliminate the need for dangerous narcotic painkillers completely.
How to Get Started
If you’re ready to take back control over your pain, your body and your life, you’ve certainly come to the right place. As arguably the most comprehensive pain management center in New Iberia, SHIPS Medical has access to all of the equipment and dedicated medical personnel required to help ensure a swift recovery from an acute injury or find ways to manage your chronic pain so that you can live your best life. Give us a call to schedule an appointment for a consultation with our New Iberia office today.