Has this happened to you?  You go to see a necompletely different treatment plan from your current pain management plan is recommended.  Or you seek out a 2nd opinion and get a completely different game plan.  Or a physical therapist or psychiatrist recommends a different approach.

This can be confusing and scary…especially if you’re told that your current treatment is dangerous or preventing you from getting better.

Why does this happen?

• Doctors, even within 1 field, have different levels of knowledge and expertise.  For example, a primary care doctor or internist might not be as up-to-date as a pain management specialist.  (See information about the importance of seeing a pain specialist.)
• For medical questions where we don’t have specific answers, doctors have different beliefs about what works and what doesn’t, and different experiences with treatments.  For example, there are many unanswered questions about narcotics, and doctors’ opinions about using narcotics are all over the map, some doctors using narcotics with nearly every patient and some never prescribing them.
• A lot is unknown about chronic pain!  So for many questions, there are no definite answers.  In these cases, doctors use what has worked for their patients in the past or try what they think might work.  (While this situation is unfortunate, it’s changing every day as we learn more and more.)

What you can do… 

• Learn as much as you can about your pain condition and treatment options, so you’re an informed patient.  Ask questions of your doctor about why she’s recommending one treatment versus another, so you know what her thinking is.  Even if you don’t have medical training, does her explanation make sense to you?
• See a pain specialist.  In general, you’ll probably get more up-to-date care for chronic pain.
• Try to tolerate the unknown.  For many issues in pain management, we just don’t know.  It is hard not to get definite answers!  But trust that almost all doctors are trying their best to help you.
• Don’t expect magic cures.  Treatment for chronic pain often takes many types of treatments all working together.  It takes time to see results, so be patient… which is hard when you’re in significant pain.
• Don’t expect all your pain to go away immediately, and for some patients, complete pain relief is unrealistic.  It doesn’t make sense to switch doctors until you’ve given a doctor time to work with you, and it will hurt your overall care to keep switching doctors after only a few sessions with each.  On the other hand…
• Don’t wait forever to see about other options.  If your doctor says “that’s all there is,” it’s always worthwhile to see what someone else can offer.  If you’ve worked with someone for a while, but aren’t satisfied with the results, a second opinion is always an option.  Don’t be afraid of offending your doctor – all good doctors encourage second opinions.
• Stick with someone you’re comfortable with.  Are you working with someone who is helping you?  Whose overall approach you agree with?  Has a good bedside manner?  Is supportive to you?  Is at a comfortable mix of conservative/cutting-edge for you?  While a consultation with someone else is always an option, stick with what is working overall.