Finding Relief: Comprehensive Pain Management Services at UCLA Health Santa Monica
The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers offer a comprehensive and caring approach to the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of pain conditions. Located in Santa Monica, with community offices throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area, these centers provide world-class chronic pain management, extending across the full continuum of health care. The physician anesthesiologists specializing in pain medicine at UCLA are experts in diagnosing and treating the full range of conditions that cause pain.
Understanding Pain: Acute vs. Chronic
It's important to differentiate between acute and chronic pain, as their causes and treatment approaches often differ.
- Acute Pain: This type of pain is often the result of a specific injury, such as those sustained at work, during sports, or in an accident. It can also arise after a surgical procedure or from a flare-up of a medical condition like arthritis. Typically, pain after surgery will resolve in a few days to weeks.
- Chronic Pain: Chronic pain is a serious medical condition that can significantly impact various aspects of life. It is defined as pain that lasts for six months or more. It can result from many medical conditions and injuries. Depression, insomnia, interruption of personal relationships, loss of employment, and dependence on narcotics are just some of the harmful effects that may be caused by chronic pain. For these reasons, chronic pain is considered a serious medical condition that can and should be treated by physician-led care teams specializing in pain medicine.
Common Pain Conditions Treated
The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers address a multitude of pain conditions, including:
- Back and Neck Pain: Back and neck pain are among the most common reasons for consultation with a physician who specializes in pain medicine. Pain may occur anywhere along the spine: the cervical spine in the neck, the thoracic spine in the mid-back, the lumbar spine in the lower back, or in the sacrum or coccyx at the lowest part of the back. We know that back pain can be extremely debilitating. It can have a serious impact on your quality of life, cause problems with mobility and keep you from doing the activities you enjoy.
- Post-Surgical Pain: Sometimes, pain doesn’t go away or even becomes worse in the weeks to months following surgery. Our physician experts find the cause of lingering pain and develop a comprehensive plan to treat it.
- Nerve-Related Pain (Neuralgia and Neuropathy): The nervous system itself can be the source of pain. The term for pain associated with specific nerves is “neuralgia”. The term “neuropathy” refers to a type of damage to the nervous system, which may be associated with diseases such as diabetes, or with medications used for cancer chemotherapy. Nerve-related pain results from damage to the nerves. Several medications and medical conditions, such as diabetes, can cause this kind of damage.
- Cancer Pain: Pain can result from the cancer itself, or it can be a side effect of procedures and surgeries to treat cancer.
- Joint Pain: A wide range of injuries and conditions can lead to joint pain in the spine, hips, knees, ankles, shoulders and fingers. Our experts work with you to reduce pain and increase flexibility and movement.
Comprehensive and Tailored Treatment Approach
The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers emphasize a holistic and individualized approach to pain management.
- Comprehensive Diagnostics and Tailored Treatment Plans: We offer a full array of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Our team uses the latest advances in pain medicine to determine the cause of pain and the best way to treat it. You receive a full evaluation and thorough care plan. We work with you to adjust medications and therapies if your needs change.
- Whole-Person Care: Our pain management experts understand that physical discomfort can have a significant impact on mental health and well-being. That’s why our approach to pain may include lifestyle changes, medications, therapy and pain management procedures. Our experts coordinate your pain treatment plan with your primary care doctor and other specialists. We understand that pain can have a significant effect on sleep, mental health, mood and quality of life. That’s why our services extend to the physical and emotional aspects of pain.
Treatment Modalities
The centers offer a wide range of treatment options, including:
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- Medication Management: Our highly skilled specialists help patients find pain relief using a combination of medication management with interventional procedures. Pain often gets better with conservative treatments such as medications, physical therapy and rest. Whenever possible, we prescribe nonopioid medications to reduce the risk of dependency.
- Interventional Procedures: Our board-certified anesthesiologists are skilled at delivering many types of injections. These procedures relieve pain, reduce inflammation and block overactive nerve signals. They work on the spine, inside the joints and on nerves all over the body. Injections also help your doctor diagnose pain by determining exactly where it’s coming from. These treatments are extremely effective and safe.
- Nerve blocks: We inject numbing medication or anti-inflammatory medication directly into the source of pain.
- Sympathetic blocks: These injections relieve pain from chronic pain syndromes. The medication targets the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions such as blood flow and digestion.
- Trigger point injections: Trigger points are muscle knots that develop when the muscles can’t relax.
- Kyphoplasty: Kyphoplasty is a procedure to treat compression fractures in the spine. Using a hollow needle, we inject a type of cement into damaged vertebra.
- Radiofrequency ablation: Radiofrequency ablation, also called neurotomy or rhizotomy, targets specific nerves without damaging other tissues.
- Implantable Devices: Our experts may recommend an implantable pump to treat severe back pain, abdominal pain and muscle spasms. We insert a pump, which is about the size of a hockey puck, during surgery. This technique helps people with chronic back pain or pain in the arms or legs. We insert a pulse generator under the skin that delivers a low-voltage current to the spine. The current blocks the feeling of pain.
Expertise and Training
The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers are staffed by a highly qualified and dedicated team.
- Board-Certified Experts: As part of the UCLA Health Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, all our doctors are board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine. Our physicians are board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine.
- UCLA Chronic Pain Management Fellowship Program: The UCLA Chronic Pain Management Fellowship Program consists of a comprehensive outpatient pain practice, along with an inpatient consult service. We offer six CA-4 (PGY-5) positions each year. The program is set up according to ACGME guidelines with rotational experience in neurology and psychiatry, along with core fellowship training in clinic and interventional-based chronic pain. The acute pain requirement is met by providing in-patient pain consultation services at Santa Monica-UCLA Orthopedic Hospital.
Accessing Care
The UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers warmly welcome new patient referrals, and same-day appointments are often available. We offer consultation services for patients with challenging pain conditions, whether the pain is acute or chronic. Within the UCLA system, a patient may be referred either for a chronic pain consultation or for a pre-surgical pain consultation, using the CareConnect electronic health record.
- Referral Process:
- To refer a patient for chronic pain consultation, first open an ambulatory encounter. In the window for "Referral to Pain Mgmt", select “Internal Referral”, and click on the appropriate clinic location. Complete additional information as appropriate. The most common referral is for general evaluation and management.
- To refer a patient for pre-surgical pain consultation, first open an ambulatory encounter. In the window for "Referral to Perioperative Pain Mgmt, select "Internal Referral", and "PAIN CLINIC MP2".
- Please call and speak with the staff at any of our clinic locations if you have questions, and they will be happy to assist you.
Insurance Information
UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan (HMO) has a contract with Medicare and enrollment in the plan depends on contract renewal. UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan includes Part D drug coverage. To enroll in UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan, you must have both Medicare Parts A and B and reside in the plan service area, Los Angeles County. Please contact Member Services at 1-833-627-8252 (833-MAP-UCLA) (TTY 711) for additional information. Hours are 8am - 8pm PT, Monday - Friday, April 1 through September 30, except on all federal holidays. Members enrolled in UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan (HMO) must use plan providers except in emergency or urgent care situations. If a member obtains care from an out-of-network provider without prior approval from UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan, neither Medicare nor UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan will be responsible for the costs. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-star rating system. Star ratings may vary by contract or market.
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tags: #ucla #health #santa #monica #pain #medicine
