Chronic Pain, Which Physicians Can Treat This?

Dr. Pohl shares which physicians can help women suffering with chronic pain.

Dr. Pohl:
There are many different kinds of physicians. I am a family physician so I am biased towards a woman finding a primary care physician. It can be an internist, it can be a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant–someone who knows general health care, is willing to communicate and willing to have some sort of a holistic approach towards the pain.

If a specialist is necessary, there are a variety of different kinds of specialties. I mean, there are orthopedic doctors, bone doctors if bones are the problem. Usually they want to do surgery. Physiatrist is a rehabilitation doctor. They help people really resume function. So a function is impaired, a physiatrist might be an appropriate referral.

Pain doctors is the third kind of doctor. Pain doctors have two ways of approaching chronic pain. One is with medications, some of which are habit-forming, and the other is through a variety of different procedures like an epidural block, steroid injections and the like.

If you are going to go see a physician, you ought to go on an interview and try them out and make sure that they are going to meet your needs.

About Dr. Mel Pohl, M.D.:
Dr. Mel Pohl, M.D., is a Board Certified Family Practitioner. He is the Vice President of Medical Affairs and the Medical Director at the Las Vegas Recovery Center (LVRC), the only private, freestanding, medically managed inpatient detoxification and addiction treatment facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Visit Dr. Pohl at the Las Vegas Recovery Center