A survey conducted as early as 2011 indicates an increase of 55% in the population seeking treatment for back and neck-related pain in Maryland. If you suffer from chronic pain, it’s time you visited a pain management specialist who’ll examine you and provide an accurate diagnosis of your condition.
You need a pain management specialist because they are trained and experienced in handling chronic pain cases and treat a wide range of pain-related conditions in their course of practice. There are several clinics and experts for pain management Maryland, and if you live in this neighborhood, you can fix an appointment and visit for a consultation.
Right from persistent headaches to severe back pain or chronic lower back pain, these specialists treat them all using a mix of procedures and medication that ends the pain once and for all.
Types of Pain Treated by Pain Management Specialists
If you seek consultation for your pain for the first time, you need to understand that the physician you need to see depends primarily on the symptoms because chronic pain management is a vast field. It is better to approach a board-certified pain management physician in Maryland with exposure to interventional pain medicine, as they diagnose accurately and suggest a course of treatment that provides relief from pain.
Pain Caused by Tissue Injury
Osteoarthritis
Data indicates that as many as 91 million adults and 300000 children in the United States may suffer from arthritis. When the protective cartilage cushioning the joints wears down, it is a condition known as osteoarthritis. It involves the joints in your hands and knees. Severe cases can affect the hips and spine as well, often being very painful and debilitating. Thankfully, osteoarthritis symptoms are manageable, though severe damage to joints is often irreversible. If you remain active and keep your weight under control, it is easy to manage the pain with medication, which offers relief from pain.
This condition is particularly prevalent in senior citizens. Of the nearly 5.8 million people in Maryland, around 18.35% are aged 60 and above. This percentage is expected to grow to 25.4% of Maryland’s projected population of 6.7 million by the year 2030.
Rheumatoid arthritis
It is an autoimmune disorder causing joint pain and damage anywhere in the body. The damage occurs on both sides of the body; hence if your right arm is affected, it is likely that your left arm will be affected too, which is a distinguishing feature of rheumatoid arthritis.
Early Diagnosis is Crucial
It is crucial to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis early as the treatment at an early stage is effective. If you experience pain on both the extremities, check with specialists for pain management in Maryland and seek diagnosis and treatment before the pain worsens.
Rheumatoid arthritis is marked by inflammation and pain in the joints, and the pain flares up during periods, after which they tend to disappear. It is not advisable to wait for the pain to flare up again before seeking medical treatment. Leaving rheumatoid arthritis untreated can cause permanent loss of joint function. Diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis is time-consuming as it involves a string of tests to confirm clinical observations.
Pain from Nervous System Disorders
A common nervous system disorder is stroke, which causes post-stroke pain. The other nerve disorders include multiple sclerosis, a spinal cord injury, and neuropathy or nerve pain due to diabetes, HIV, or shingles.
Close to 20 percent of stroke victims develop central post-stroke pain (CPSP), which occurs when the brain’s pain-interpreting sutures get affected by the stroke. Also known as central pain syndrome or neuropathic pain, it requires expert diagnosis and appropriate treatment by specialists.
Varied Pain Disorders
Considering the most specialized occupations, Maryland has more people working as industrial outlets, protective service workers and building maintenance employees.
As a result, you may develop pain in your neck or back due to many reasons. Abnormalities, injury, or inflammation to the bones, muscles, and ligaments of the neck can cause stiffness in the neck, resulting in pain. Wrong posture and overuse of the neck muscles can result in pain, which is treatable. However, if the pain persists for more than a week, you need to consult a pain management specialist to get relief.
Besides the wrong posture, you can get stiffness in your neck, sitting in front of your desktop or laptop for hours together in the same position. Maryland also has a number of professionals working with computers, especially due to the pandemic crisis of work from home becoming a new norm.
Hence, it is advisable to take frequent breaks and stretch a bit to prevent neck and shoulder pain. When you sleep with your neck in an awkward position, you will likely wake up with a stiff and painful neck. Rapid jerking of your neck during a workout can also cause neck pain.
Your neck is prone to injuries caused by falls or car accidents, or sporting activities. The neck muscles and ligaments may be strained beyond their normal range. Any fracture in the neck bones (cervical vertebrae) can damage your spinal cord. Whiplash is a neck injury caused by rapid jerking of the head.
Summing it Up
While pain, whether temporary or chronic, is a common condition in Maryland, it is crucial to diagnose the root cause of the pain and seek appropriate treatment from experts for pain management in Maryland. Ignoring the pain, and leaving it untreated can lead to severe complications, often irreversible.