The types of conditions managed by pain medicine specialists fall into three main groups: direct tissue injury, nerve injury, and a combination of tissue and nerve injury.

• Direct tissue injuries. These are caused by tissue damage, as with the chronic pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, where the wear and tear of the joints are common.
• Nerve damage or nervous system disorders. These can cause pain and typically occur after a stroke, spinal cord injury, and some conditions like multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
• Mixed pain disorders. These can occur when there’s damage to your neck and spine, or with certain cancers.

Pain medicine specialists perform various procedures, such as X-rays, to diagnose and provide ongoing treatment for your pain management. Pain medicine specialists also rely on a combination of nonsurgical therapies to improve your quality of life, including:

• acupuncture
• chiropractic care
• exercise
• massage
• nutrition counseling
• yoga

Sometimes, treatment involves the use of medications. Depending on your need, your pain medicine specialist will also coordinate their treatment with the other physicians you may be seeing.

You may want to speak with a pain medicine specialist if you’re experiencing chronic pain that does not go away with rest or after using pain medications. Some examples of chronic pain include:

• body aches and pains as experienced withmultiple sclerosis
• joint pain, such asarthritis
• neckandback pain