Guest guest Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Just ask your primary care physician for a referral to that pain clinic, get the name of the clinic the doctors there and the address and phone number. Write a letter to the doctor asking to be referred, date it and keep a copy for your records. These days, all specialists require referrals, even if your insurance doesn't. Jennette > wrote: >I don't know if I asked this once before but has anyone tried to go to a Pain Clinic only to be told > >1. You need a referral >2. You need to be " approve " to come here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Yes, I encountered the same thing. I was not even allowed to bring in my own records from 2 floors up. My spine orthopedist had to send my records and make the recommendation. It took a month for me to get in. My GP never did want to do pain management. I took a copy of my contract with pain management to GP and we agreed that GP would do anti-depressants and leave anything pain related to pain management. When I temporarily relocated, I sent a letter for the reason for my relocation and a copy of my new pain management contract to the first pain management. When I get to return home, I will resend the letters. Drug addiction is apparently a huge problem and the pain docs want to limit their liability. I didn't like it, but do understand it. Ellen > wrote: >I don't know if I asked this once before but has anyone tried to go to a Pain Clinic only to be told 1. You need a referral 2. You need to be " approve " to come here The pain clinic asked me some questions and then said they would get back to me after reading all the reports I would send to them. Not sure how I would get a second opinion out of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 , Yes most pain clinics require you send your records to see if they can treat your condition. One of the doctors said they cannot treat me as my prognosis is poor for recovery. One doctor took six weeks for me to get accepted. Most doctors require records. I would look at the pain doctors websites and they usually list the conditions they treat and the services they provide. Some will state they only provide intervention services (spinal injections, blocks, ablation, etc) and do not do medication management. That is what you need to ask. I have a condition in that this is all that is left for me so I have to manage that with my pain conditions. My PCP does not prescribe narcotics and requires I go to a pain manage specialist. I hope that helps but I would be looking for another pain management doctor and I have sent my records to several before and asked for recommendations. I recently called a pain management clinic as I go to a single doctor and I worry about what I would do if she got sick and the other Doctor said come right in. So the doctors are out there. You have to get one that will provide you some type of relied and you have to keep a level of pain medication in your system to fight it off and most prescribe a timed a pain medication if you hurt daily most of the time. Good Luck and let us know what you find out. Hope you get some relief. Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Amazingly, one of the clinics and not sure if it was a pain clinic as much as a naturalistic place. They saw my friend first, then took one look at my records and said they couldn't see me based on my records. I was so PO'd about it I was going to write a nasty letter to them. Just because they see my chart doesn't mean that I am not open minded enough to handle something different that they could offer to me that may work. I am still not happy about it and word of mouth speaks volumes especially if I tell at least 10 people about the place. For someone to say to you that your prognosis is poor for recovery to me is the doctor assuming they can't fix what you have. This one has all the stuff and I do have to drive a good 2-3 hours away to get there. I just don't understand what I am to do in the meantime when my regular PCP won't give me anything stronger than Diludid. Here is there website: http://www.painclinic-nw.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx > Bennie wrote: > Yes most pain clinics require you send your records to see if they can treat your condition. One of the doctors said they cannot treat me as my prognosis is poor for recovery. > One doctor took six weeks for me to get accepted. Most doctors require records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 M.G., I looked at the website and in my opinion, this is an interventional pain clinic that does not do medication therapy but does have outside physical therapists etc. If you look under services : These are all invasive procedures and there is no pain contracts listed where pain clinics usually have this that administer medication. Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection Celiac Plexus Block Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection (CESI) Coccyx Injection DAS Pump Placement Discography Facet Injection Intercostal Nerve Block Ischial Bursa Injection Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection Lumbar Sympathetic Block Medial Branch Block Occipital Nerve Block .... http://austinpainassociates.com/#/home/ was a clinic I went to and this part is under some of their treatments to include interventional therapy, alternative therapies, counseling, physical therapy, and other treatment listed on the website. I always ask if I have to have injections to keep my medication program in place and most doctors who are anesthesiologists do interventional procedures. Check out the site and you can see the difference. Below is the description they have under treatments: Medication Management Due to rapid advances in medicine, a wide variety of medications and treatments are available for acute, chronic and cancer pain. At Austin Pain Associates we take the use of pain medication very seriously. We realize there are appropriate times to use medication, and your therapy plan will be tailored to your specific needs and circumstances. We will closely monitor the progress and compliance of your treatment plan and make necessary adjustments along the way. I hope you find a good doctor that will treat you well. Dilaudid is very strong but you might be tolerant and need to be changed to other medication. I am not a Doctor but this has been my experience. Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.