Pain Medicine

What is Pain Medicine?

Pain Medicine is a sophisticated branch of health care that focuses on treating acute, chronic, and intractable pain. Different types of pain have different underlying causes. Nociceptive pain is caused by an injury to body tissues. It may occur after surgery or in diseases such as cancer. Neuropathic pain involves nerve endings and occurs in conditions such as sciatica. Psychogenic pain is associated with psychological disorders.

Regardless of its cause, pain remains a subjective experience for the millions Americans whose lives are often dramatically altered, and even overturned, by the discomfort or even debilitation of daily pain. However, as the field of pain medicine advances, new options have emerged for patients facing this challenge. Pain management specialists are trained to diagnose and treat specific types of pain using integrative, multi-disciplinary therapies.

Our Approach to Pain Management

Dr. Lawrence Glass became interested in pain management after watching a close patient suffer from chronic daily headaches. As he witnessed the ongoing plight of one of his patients suffering from this malady, he grew frustrated at his inability to help her. The possibility that there may be a treatment -- perhaps a set of treatments -- that could alleviate her pain became Dr. Glass' motivation to learn the art and science of pain medicine.

Dr. Glass has continued to learn about this field on a daily basis. His continuing education in this field has kept him up-to-date with a full gamut of state-of-the-art therapies for all major types of pain. Dr. Glass' empathy for his patients, combined with his deep commitment to improving their health, has helped him refine the art of pain management. In addition, as a client-centered family practitioner, he treats each patient as a whole person.

Dr. Glass' philosophy is that any individual affected by this condition must first understand the cause of his or her pain. Once this has been done, he can design and implement a treatment plan suitable for the specific condition and tailor it to that particular patient. Dr. Glass uses optimal treatment strategies of Integrative Medicine to manage his patients' pain and suffering. He draws on both traditional and innovative assessments in making each patient's pain evaluation. He spends a great deal of time obtaining the sequence of events that led to the particular ailment. He also relies on biomedical diagnostic tests such as MRI and X-ray as well as a thorough physical examination to evaluate each patient.

Patients receive individually tailored programs that best suit their physical and psychological needs for pain reduction. Treatments may consist of one or more modalities, including medications, injections, physical therapy, and nerve blocks. Some patients may be referred to neurologists, orthopedics surgeons, neurosurgeons, psychotherapists, or psychiatrists for supportive care.

Patients also may receive treatment from specialists for implantable devices, such as pain pumps or nerve stimulators, or they may be sent to complementary healthcare providers of biofeedback, acupuncture, and other proven adjunctive therapies. Dr. Glass also volunteers his time in medical studies to help provide new and innovative therapies.

Dr. Glass' multi-disciplinary treatment approach offers people living with pain the chance to experience a full life again. Different treatments sometimes must be used on a trial basis to learn what works best for an individual patient. Even in cases of intractable pain where nothing can be done medically to reverse the pain process, Dr. Glass and his associates do not abandon their patients. Under the guidance of a coordinated team of pain specialists, many of our patients are able (against all odds) to maintain some level of physical and mental competence.

"Remember: Chronic pain is not a choice, but suffering is."