Pain Awareness Month: Pain Management at Greater Regional Health

Pain can become exhausting long before it becomes visible to anyone else. It can interrupt sleep, limit work, make daily tasks harder, and change the way a person moves through the world. During September, Pain Awareness Month reminds people that pain deserves attention, evaluation, and personalized care.

Chronic pain can affect mood, mobility, strength, relationships, and independence. Some pain comes from an old injury. Some comes from arthritis, nerve irritation, spinal conditions, headaches, or changes after surgery. Some pain has more than one cause.

Greater Regional Pain Management helps people with chronic pain by focusing on assessing, relieving, and treating pain to improve their daily lives.

Pain Awareness Month helps make chronic pain easier to talk about

Pain Awareness Month takes place every September. Its purpose is simple but important: bring attention to pain, reduce stigma, and encourage people to seek care when pain affects daily life.

Many people try to push through pain for months or years. They may worry that nothing can be done. They may have been told their pain is just part of aging, part of an old injury, or something they need to tolerate. While some conditions do require long-term management, living with untreated or poorly managed pain can make everyday life harder than it needs to be.

Pain is personal, and the care plan should reflect that.

Chronic pain needs a full evaluation, not guesswork

Chronic pain is often defined as pain that lasts for several months or continues beyond the expected healing time. It may be steady, or it may flare and settle. It may stay in one area, or it may travel.

A careful evaluation helps identify possible causes and avoid a one-size-fits-all plan. At a pain management visit, the care team may review medical history, current symptoms, medications, previous procedures, imaging results, and how pain limits daily life.

Common pain concerns that may lead someone to seek pain management include:

• Back pain

• Neck pain

• Myofascial pain (muscle)

• Neuropathy of hands and feet

• Chronic migraine headaches

• Hip pain for non-surgical candidates

• Failed back surgery

• Complex regional pain syndrome

  
  

Not every person needs the same tests or treatments. Some may benefit from physical therapy and changes in activity. Others may need medication review, injections, or other interventional options. Some need a combined plan.

The goal of Greater Regional Pain Management is to help patients find a plan that fits the cause of pain, the person’s health history, and their day-to-day goals.

Pain management options can include several types of care

Greater Regional Pain Management may use a range of approaches based on the evaluation. The right option depends on the condition, medical history, symptoms, and treatment goals.

Procedures Available at Greater Regional:

• Lumbar epidural steroid injection

• Thoracic epidural steroid injection

• Cervical epidural steroid injection

• Radiofrequency ablation for cervical and lumbar spine pain

• Thoracic facet injection

• Sacroiliac joint injection

• Hip injections (if referred by an orthopedic provider)

• Trigger point injections

• Diagnostic blocks

• Therapeutic nerve blocks

• Cryoablation for knee pain

• Radiofrequency ablation for hip pain

• Spinal cord neuromodulation

• Occipital nerve blocks

• Ganglion impar injection

• Coccygeal ligament injection

• Sympathetic blocks

• Botox for chronic migraine headaches

Medication can improve comfort

Medication may be part of a pain management plan, but it is only one piece. A thoughtful medication review looks at what a person is taking, what has helped, what caused side effects, and whether safer or more effective choices may be available.

Some people use over-the-counter pain relievers. Others may take prescription medications for inflammation, muscle symptoms, or nerve pain. The care team can help determine what makes sense based on the person’s medical history.

Procedures may help target pain at the source

Some pain conditions respond to targeted procedures. These may be used to calm inflammation, identify a pain source, or interrupt pain signals. Depending on the diagnosis, options may include injections or nerve-focused treatments.

Relief is only one part of the goal

Pain relief matters. So does function. A strong pain management plan asks practical questions:

• Can the person sleep more comfortably?

• Can they walk farther?

• Can they sit, stand, or drive with less pain?

• Can they return to work duties or household tasks?

• Can they enjoy activities they have avoided?

  
  

These goals may sound ordinary, but they can be life-changing for someone living with chronic pain. A lower pain score is helpful, but the real measure is often what a person can do with less fear and less limitation.

Greater Regional Pain Management can help patients connect treatment choices to real daily goals.

When to seek help for ongoing pain

Some people wait until pain becomes severe before asking for help. Pain management may be useful much earlier, especially when pain interferes with normal life.

Consider scheduling an evaluation when pain:

• Lasts longer than expected

• Keeps returning

• Limits walking, lifting, sitting, standing, or sleeping

• Travels into an arm or leg

• Causes numbness, tingling, or burning sensations

• Makes work, home tasks, or hobbies difficult

• Does not improve with basic self-care

• Requires frequent medication just to get through the day

  
  

A good plan starts with the right diagnosis and a clear conversation.

Greater Regional Pain Management

Greg Anderson, CRNA, Tom Hansen, MD, and Liz Hensley, ARNP are dedicated to improving the quality of life of those living with chronic pain. For more information, visit our Pain Management webpage here.

Hear from the expert! Greg Anderson, CRNA, joined the Greater Regional Health Podcast to discuss Greater Regional Pain Management. Watch the full episode here.

Pain Awareness Month is a reminder to take pain seriously

Chronic pain can make life smaller. It can change routines, reduce activity, and create frustration when answers are hard to find. Pain Awareness Month is a reminder that pain is real, support is available, and management options can help many people move toward better function.