Physical Therapy

At our chronic pain clinic, we approach patients with fibromyalgia, chronic regional pain syndrome, low back pain, headache, and other complaints with a multidisciplinary manner. I think this is absolutely essential. Especially for patients who have seen so many physicians including other pain doctors, there is no single therapy that will solve everything. It's hard for patients to accept that we have no silver bullet, but when we explain the multi-pronged attack to control symptoms and help someone manage their pain, we get a lot of buy-in.

Along with pain psychology, we like to involve our physical therapists. Physical therapists know so much about body mechanics that doctors don't understand. Even though an orthopedic surgeon may know how a joint should move and a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician understands how muscle groups interact, a physical therapist puts it all together. They have the time, the patience, and the tools to encourage a patient to use that limb that hurts or overcome their fatigue and exercise. And for some diseases like fibromyalgia, this is the most important thing. When we have our multidisciplinary conferences, we pay attention to the pain psychologist and the physical therapist because their assessment and recommendations are just as important as the medications we prescribe or the needles we wield.