Advances in Pain Management

Hancock Health sees many patients each year who are in pain and in search of medicine, answers and/or treatments. Our Hancock Pain Management Center offers a comprehensive approach to dealing with acute and chronic pain to help patients get back on their feet. 

Aside from post-surgical recovery or other acute pain, the most common reasons patients need help with pain are due to degenerative conditions such as arthritis, aging and spinal degeneration from injury or painful nerve conditions. Having a condition alone, however, isn’t necessarily the only reason to seek treatment for pain. Some patients with these conditions are still able to function in their daily life without extra help. 

It is when patients present with what is called a “loss” that our pain team needs to provide them with an individualized treatment plan. This refers to a patient’s inability to function as they did before by performing activities such as working, socializing with family and friends, and even going about daily tasks and routines. “Identifying those losses and coming up with a plan to try to restore those things as best as possible is the very best help we can be,” says Dr. Aaron Nelson, Medical Director.  

Since pain can cause difficult changes in a person’s life, the doctors at the Hancock Pain Management Center take their jobs seriously. While Dr. Nelson is available at the hospital for surgeries or high-risk situations, his main location is in the Parkway Building behind the hospital, where patients can get help with outpatient procedures and other treatments. A new clinic is also opening at the Gateway facility in Mount Comfort. No matter where you are, your Hancock Health provider can message the Hancock Pain Management Center for clinical questions, concerns or collaborations.  

At these locations and throughout Hancock Health, pain is treated using a combination of medications, interventions, properly selected procedures, physical therapy, and even holistic methods if patients are open to exploring other options. Taking a truly integrated approach has been beneficial for not only the patients but also the providers who see results in those they serve.  

As advances in medicine create more ways to reduce pain with a lower risk, providers at Hancock Health are seeing changes in how they can help their patients manage both acute and chronic conditions. 

“The biggest technological advances we are seeing in pain management are in procedure equipment and decreasing invasiveness. Instruments and equipment are becoming smaller and more efficient, which decreases recovery times and makes procedures less uncomfortable. Patients can expect that the vast majority of these advances are available within our system, and if they are not, we know the specific colleagues and facilities to refer to,” says Dr. Nelson.  

As with any treatment, everything depends on the individual patient, especially when it comes to the tricky job of managing chronic pain. For these, Dr. Nelson says, it can be a fairly complex marathon instead of a sprint to the finish line of pain-free living. From post-surgical pain management to making sure chronic conditions don’t worsen to the extent that they are debilitating for patients, the Hancock Pain Management Center is here to help.