Living with pain can be debilitating, making even routine tasks difficult—but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our pain management specialists at Nextgen Pain & Injury Clinic can help. We use leading-edge therapies, along with physical therapy and pain management, to treat both chronic and acute pain, including pain caused by a car accident or workplace injury. Our team will work hard to reduce or eliminate pain caused by numerous conditions, including:

 At Nextgen, our mission is to help patients to return to work, improve their quality of life, reduce dependence on medication and health care providers, and avoid persistent injuries.

What is acute pain?

Acute pain is pain that typically comes on suddenly. It acts like a warning sign that something is wrong, and is usually the result of some type of physical trauma with a specific, treatable cause. Acute pain could result from a broken bone, an infected tooth, a surgical procedure, a cut or burn, or numerous other injuries or conditions.

It may seem like a simple concept, but acute pain can be complex to treat, because it often comes on without warning and can stop as suddenly as it starts. Acute pain can range from mild to severe, and is sometimes very short-lived, though it can also lead to longer-term effects in some cases.

At Nextgen, our pain management specialists will work to identify and treat what’s causing your acute pain using the appropriate therapies for recovery.

What is chronic pain?

Chronic pain is typically defined as ongoing pain that lasts for at least six months, and affects approximately 40 million adults across the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health. Although it may have been caused by an initial injury or illness, chronic pain continues long after that injury or illness has resolved—the body’s nervous system may continue to receive pain signals for months or even years. But some chronic pain has no clear underlying cause.

People who suffer from chronic pain may experience it continuously or intermittently, and it often disrupts activities of daily living—sometimes to the point that people with chronic pain cannot work or engage in physical activity. While some causes of chronic pain, such as cancer or arthritis, may be evident, there’s not always a clear reason why a person experiences chronic pain.

Chronic pain can include:

• Headaches
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Arthritis
• Nerve pain
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Cancer and other chronic conditions
  

The effects of chronic pain are many as it stresses the body over time. It can cause muscle tension, lethargy or lack of energy, changes in appetite, and limitations to movement, as well as emotional and psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, anger, and fear of reinjury.

Nextgen treats different types of chronic pain with physical and medical approaches, including advanced therapies such as regenerative stem cell therapy, so you can live a full life.

When should I see a pain management doctor?

The discomfort you feel from pain is your body signifying that something is wrong. It starts in receptor nerve cells, which send messages along nerve pathways that carry these messages to brain when you’re sick or injured. A pain management doctor works to block these messages before they get to the brain and cause physical pain.

According to Johns Hopkins, chronic pain is one of the most costly health problems in the U.S. due to its pervasive reach into a person’s life, often resulting in lost productivity and income, as well as charges and compensation from legal proceedings resulting from things like workplace injuries and car accidents.

If you’ve been in an accident at work or outside your home, it’s important to seek medical evaluation as soon as possible. It’s also a good idea to see a pain management doctor or specialist if:

• Your pain lasts more than three months
• You’re struggling with everyday movements
• You experience pain from a specific motion
• Your pain is radiating throughout your body, or causing numbness or tingling
• You rely on pain medication for relief
• Your pain is preventing you from sleeping well
  

Our pain management doctors will perform thorough medical evaluations to help determine the cause of your pain, using methods like pain mapping and nerve-root blocking. From there, they can create a care plan to treat your pain through treatments such as physical therapy, medication management, trigger point injection, and/or regenerative stem cell therapy. Nextgen’s experienced team can also perform case management for patients involved in workplace or accident injuries.

What to look for when choosing a pain management doctor

When you’re in pain and choose to seek treatment from a pain management doctor, it can be hard to know where to start. The goal of any pain management doctor or pain management clinic should be first and foremost to improve your quality of life. They should also equip you to manage your pain effectively so that you can perform daily tasks more easily, enjoy life more fully, and in some cases, return to work.

Different pain management doctors take different approaches, so it’s important to understand what their specialties are, what therapies they use, and how they monitor your progress. You should always work with a doctor and clinic you feel comfortable with, and that will work with your personal goals. Be sure that the pain management specialist you choose has experience treating your type of pain.

Pain management care at Nextgen

At Nextgen, our pain management process is simple. First, we listen to you to gain an understanding of where the pain is. Then we learn how the pain is impacting your health and limiting their lifestyle. Next, we create a comprehensive history evaluation. Then, we develop a treatment plan tailored specifically to your needs. Finally, we treat the pain at of our pain control clinics in Arlington, Dallas or Albuquerque.

Nextgen also accepts letter of protection (LOP) cases. If you are involved in an accident because of the negligence of someone else, your attorney may recommend a letter of protection to help with the ensuing medical bills. Our staff works with many attorneys and understands how to manage letters of protection.