Our Patients

Chronic Pain patients are people who have been coping with pain for a considerable period of time. They may have tried various treatments, undergone various procedures, and have been on a variety of medications, but none of these approaches have adequately dealt with the pain. Equally important, these patients’ physical functioning has been compromised, such that they no longer are able to enjoy the work, home or recreational activities they participated in prior to pain taking over. Pain patients or their families also may be concerned about increasing prescription drug use, which may be creating a dangerous situation for the patient.

While not all patients have all of the following characteristics, generally a chronic pain patient is experiencing:

• Difficulty functioning due to chronic pain
• Missing too much work or inability to work due to pain
• Depression or anxiety associated with pain
• Tolerance or dependence on pain medications
• A desire to get off pain medications
• Continuing chronic pain despite medical treatment
• A quality of life negatively affected by chronic pain
• A decline in physical conditioning and level of activity due to chronic pain
• Family and social relationships that are negatively affected by chronic pain

Our message to all our patients is not that our treatment will render them totally pain free, but that they will be able, through treatment in our program, to mitigate their pain complaints, increase their functioning, and learn to cope with their pain sufficiently to resume productive lives.