Pain can be debilitating. Much more than a simple headache or backache, traumatic acute pain or long-lasting chronic pain effects your entire life. In the worst cases, it can leave you stuck in bed and unable to go about your daily routine. Pain can come from arthritis, pulled muscles, a degenerative disease, diabetes, a previous surgery, and a host of other issues. Finding the root cause and providing relief are the two goals of pain management.
If you live in New York City and you’re suffering from persistent pain, where will you turn? You have two basic options. You can choose the traditional type of medicine preformed at a hospital or your doctor’s office. The second option is integrative medicine. This type of medicine uses alternate approaches and treats the whole body, not just your specific medical ailment.
In the list below, you’ll find some common treatments in traditional and integrative medicine for patients in NYC.
Traditional medicine
Oral pain medication – over-the-counter or prescription pills used to treat a wide range of painful symptoms. This could include NSAIDs, corticosteroids, narcotics, or steroids.
Injections – steroids, Botox, or other medicines are injected into the site of pain.
Intrathecal Pain Pump – a catheter placed under the skin that delivers pain medication directly to the spinal nerves.
Surgery – cutting open the body to directly manipulate the suspected source of pain.
Integrative Medicine
Acupuncture – inserting tiny needles into specific points on the body. This is used to treat headaches, menstrual cramps, arthritis, tennis elbow, and other types of chronic pain.
Prolotherapy – an injection of a highly concentrated sugar solution that triggers the non-surgical repair of ligaments. Used on the knee, wrist, shoulder, ankle, and other joints. Also treats pain related to tendonitis, back and neck pain, arthritis, degenerated discs, sciatica, and whiplash.
Massage – a hands-on way of manipulating muscles and deep tissue. Can be used to treat bone pain, neck pain, back stiffness, leg pain, and other musculoskeletal issues.
Chiropractic care – physical alignment of the spine, bones, and muscles. This can treat arthritis, back or neck pain, and sports injuries.
Trigger point therapy – a small injection of procaine that treats pain from carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tendonitis, angina pectoris, headaches, and sciatica.
Mesotherapy – a series of microinjections directed at the middle layer of skin, which contain medications, nutrients, and vitamins. This treats muscle and ligament strains and sprains, chronic lower back pain, nerve damage, sinusitis, pharyngitis, and acne.
Ultrasound – uses ultrasound images to guide injections that release painful nerves. It can be used for carpal tunnel syndrome, pelvic floor pain, saphenous nerve entrapment, peroneal nerve entrapment, and other conditions.
In New York City, you should have no problem accessing any of these treatments. We encourage you to go beyond our list and research potential treatments. Evaluate the procedure, the side effects, and the recovery time. Ultimately, the choice is yours—where will you turn for pain management?