Chronic pain is more treatable than ever before. Advances in medications and new therapies are providing relief for many types of pain that may have been considered untreatable in the past. The Nebraska Medical Center’s Pain Clinic, the most comprehensive pain clinic in the region, is dedicated to treating all types of pain, acute or chronic, cancer pain and pain associated with many types of conditions such as headaches, back pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis or post-strokes..

“Many people suffer for years with chronic pain because they haven’t received the right treatment or they’ve been led to believe it is not treatable,” says Angie Rakes, M.D., pain and headache specialist at The Pain Clinic, located at Clarkson West Medical Center on the southwest corner of 144th and West Center Road. “The field of pain management has advanced greatly in the last five years. We have so many new medications and treatment options that no one should have to suffer from disabling chronic pain anymore.”

“While we may not be able to provide 100 percent relief, we can help bring pain down to levels that are more tolerable to allow individuals to be more active and improve their overall quality of life,” says Christoper Criscuolo, M.D., pain medicine specialist, who works with Dr. Rakes at the Pain Clinic.

The Pain Clinic will help you find the right medications or a combination of therapies that can provide the most effective, long-lasting relief. The Pain Clinic uses a comprehensive and mult-disciplinary approach to pain management  that attacks pain from many fronts and uses some of the most cutting edge techniques and therapies. “We look at the whole person and manage all aspects of their care from medications and physical therapy, to comfort care and working with the primary care doctor to find the best solutions,” says Dr. Criscuolo.

Early treatment

Reaching the patient early on is an important factor in providing the most effective pain relief. “The longer you wait to seek treatment, the more difficult it becomes to treat pain,” says Dr. Rakes. “After months or years of chronic pain, the body generates a map to pain that is difficult to break. The pain receptors change and what might have been a problem that could have been treated very easily early on, now becomes much more complicated.”