A pain center is a center that should be consulted for chronic pain. Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than 3 months.
In pain centers, the cause of the pain is investigated and treatment is applied. Pain is an unpleasant subjective feeling that originates from any part of the body, which may or may not be due to an organic cause, and covers all past experiences of the person. The department dealing with pain is called Algology. Algology is the field of medicine in which the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of pain lasting 3 months or longer is performed.
In the pain center; chronic pain; cancer pain, headaches, pain due to nerve damage, i.e. neuralgia, musculoskeletal system pain; neck pain, shoulder-arm pain, back pain, waist-leg pain, pain due to vascular occlusion, pain of unknown cause are treated in the algology department. Anyone who feels chronic pain such as headaches, cancer pain, etc. can apply to Pain Centers. People with acute pain can also benefit from our center, but acute pain is a defense mechanism of the body, a stimulus. It is a message that the person should take seriously to go to the doctor. The aim of algology is to restore the quality of life lost due to chronic pain.
Pain Center Services
Pain Center is a center that can provide easier diagnosis and treatment services to patients with a wide range of chronic pain.
Pain treatment in a pain center is a team work and requires a multidisciplinary approach. The team includes radiology, physical therapy, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and psychiatry, which is an indispensable part of this team.
Chronic pain is a condition that has a very negative impact on the quality of life and psychology. Sometimes a person experiences this pain 24/7 and for months. Sometimes you have a psychiatric illness and may feel pain due to it. Chronic pain is treated in the pain center.
In the pain center, you can quickly diagnose and apply a treatment plan with the right team. Most of the time, people in pain go to many specialists. They try all methods to make their pain go away. The work of Pain Centers focuses on the pain of these people and aims to improve the patient's quality of life by approaching the treatment process multidisciplinarily.
Who can be a pain specialist (Algologist or Algologist)?
Algo means "pain" in Latin and logy means "science". Doctors who treat pain are called "algologists". In order to become an algologist, physicians who have completed a 6-year medical school must complete a two-year Algology sub-specialty training after receiving specialty training in Anesthesiology, Neurology or Physical Therapy.
Is the Level of Pain Important?
In the treatment performed in the pain center, the intensity felt by the patient is very important rather than the level of pain. Pain is a subjective feeling. It varies from person to person, culture to culture, and comorbidity to comorbidity. Whatever intensity the person feels, that is the intensity for us. For example, when evaluating the severity of pain, if the patient feels the pain at an intensity of 9 out of 10, we accept the patient's pain as 9. The approach should never be "this patient does not have such severe pain". On the other hand, pain is important even if it is of low intensity.
What does pain threshold mean?
The pain threshold is usually the same in all people, but there may be differences in pain tolerance. If there is a problem affecting the pain threshold, such as a tumor or a disease affecting the nervous system, there may be a problem with the pain reaching our brain.
In the pain center, pain is treated with different treatment protocols depending on the condition and type of pain. The pain sensation in the definition of pain may differ according to the person, the society in which he/she was raised and his/her education. Since pain is a subjective feeling, it is always individualized. Therefore, it varies greatly from person to person.
Why does pain remain unresolved?
Teamwork is very important in a pain center. Doctors can help relieve some of the pain, but chronic pain treatment is a team effort. If this team is present, pain treatment is successful. For this reason, experienced pain specialists are being trained in this field in our country. The pain specialist offers the best and fastest treatment service to the patient with this multidisciplinary approach.
What kind of psychology does chronic pain cause in the patient?
Chronic painful conditions are treated in the pain center. Chronic pain reduces the quality of life. People stop doing the things they used to be happy to do, start taking medication constantly, experience tension, sleep disorders, burnout, withdrawal from society, and disrupt their work if they are working. In fact, pain is a source of great unhappiness. Naturally, it affects the psychology of the person and even the psychology of his/her close environment and family. As a result, chronic pain can cause psychological disorders, and some psychiatric conditions also have an important place among the causes of pain. Patients with chronic pain should definitely be evaluated psychiatrically. Therefore, it is very important to include a psychiatrist in the Pain Center team.
Will the use of painkillers decrease with pain treatment?
The main purpose of the pain center is to apply a treatment plan suitable for the clinical picture of the person. Painkillers and anti-depressants are widely used all over the world. As the number of Pain Centers increases, the right painkiller will be used in the right patient, thus reducing the unconscious use of painkillers.