Has anyone ever seen a pain specialist or pain management physician? I have an app't in mid November to see what can be done for my knees and shoulder pain. It's arthritis and what I have been doing isn't necesssarily cutting the pain enough to be able to have "quality" as my CNP says. I had to laugh yesterday, because the ortho PA sent me to (or wants to) aquatic therapy for my shoulder. What does he think I've been doing for three years in the pool 90% of the time? I've gotten those exercises on my own. But I'll play the game. I am looking for what they might have that I haven't tried already. The receptionist mentioned other meds...we'll see how they go with the others I am already taking for everything else. But can someone who has gone to one, or knows something about them, give me any ideas before I spend the money for something I've already done?

Thanks.

Lori, thanks for the info....anything I can learn before I go will only help me tell them my needs and desires for treatment. AND I am so happy for your friends. They have commercials on tv about who depression really hurts, well, chronic pain is the same way, it does affect your family and friends, it does affect your attitude and outlook on life. I am awed that more regular physicians aren't making the connection and only saying "take to asprin and call me" anymore. We've come so much farther than this.

Cathy,

I have two different friends that have gone to Pain management specialists for chronic back pain due to injury induced arthritic pain. While the procedures done on both friends (one was for lumbar (lower back) pain, the other was cervical (upper back/neck) pain) were fairly invasive, they have seen GREAT relief. One of them has been able to go back to work (he is in his early 40s) the other is in his mid-60s and is able to sustain a fairly normal life, although not able to work.

The first thing that they did with both of these friends was to do epidurals to see if the procedures would even work to improve their quality of life. This is a trial run of the meds, so to speak. The epidurals were successful wtih both, so they did something more invasive (I'm sorry, but I don't remember the exact procedure, but I do know that it involves a pump similar to an insulin pump) for pain control.

That probably isn't helpful, but for the two people that I know that have gone to pain management physicians, it has been very successful for both of them.