Physicians also send patients to the Pain Medicine Center for conditions that may benefit from early treatment or specialized treatment. Common problems include pain from nerve injuries, low back pain, and cancer pain. Pain is usually caused by injury or disease, but sometimes lasts long after the original injury has healed. Chronic pain may result from damage to nerves that occurs at the time of the injury or occurs later as part of the body's response to the injury. Although Pain Medicine Center physicians are experts at identifying the causes of pain, sometimes the exact cause of chronic pain cannot be determined.
Anesthesiologists are physicians who specialize in preventing and relieving pain.
Some of the very first pain medicine doctors were anesthesiologists. Anesthesiologists started the first pain clinic in the country and helped found an international organization dedicated to pain research and treatment. The physicians who staff the Pain Medicine are diplomates of the American Board of Anesthesiology. Following 4 years of medical school, they have completed another 3-4 years of specialty training in anesthesiology, which is the the study of pain relief. They then had to pass a rigorouos set of exams.