If any, is there a difference between a Pain clinic and a Phsyatrist? I am not finding anything that says it's different, because i was told i went to a pain clinic and and was treated kinda and then only to be told later it was a Physiatrist, and this was a Phsyaitrist office that deals with chronic pain treatment, so i am confused?
Thanks for any help anyone can give!
Love, discouraged
A physiatrist is a doctor who specializes in "physical medicine". Honestly, I have no specific idea what "physical medicine" is.
The only thing I can tell you is that I was assessed by a physiatrist when I initially applied for disability. From what I understand, they use their knowledge to see if a person is functioning within normal parameters. You know...Things like: Does a person use their muscles correctly when moving? Can a person perform simple mathematical functions (like making change)?
So, I can understand where a physiatrist might treat Pain problems. At the same time, you are NOT out-of-line by being confused. Pain Management doctors are often anesthesiologists or neurologists. My Internist is my Pain doctor! Many types of physicians are jumping into the game!
Finally, I want to ask you something. Did you not receive adequate treatment? Your original post led me to believe that you weren't all that happy. AND, I hope we all can help you concerning the fact that you signed off as "discouraged"!
Let us help if we can. There are many who are good at helping others become "encouraged".
Conductor, i have posted on the back pain thread also and i copied and pasted this for you so you know what i'm dealing with, thanks a bunch!
I have posted a few times on here but i will post a recap and maybe someone can help me sort a few things out? I started with very mild back pain after a car accident, low Lumbar pain and then pain in the buttock on the left side running down my leg last year i gave a go and started seasonal at a greenhouse and worked full time only to find out again i couldn't walk so the job ended and i started therapy and had to leave my job in May of 2006 and applied for SSI due to not being able to walk and severe pain. Therapy didnt give any relief so i was refered to a pain clininc where i got an injection and a bone scan and before the therapy had an MRI and bone scan and xrays that showed natta, so i was stuck without any answers. Then from the pain clinic i was refered to a chiro, where he said this was from the car accident and that the damage was done and may be to late to fix and after 8 weeks of that making things worse went back to regular dr. who then refered me to see a Neurosurgeon and be evaluated still not being able to walk properly and they did an EMG nerve test and said that i didn't nee surgery and said go back to be regular Dr. who when i went back said this was not right of this Dr. So she was sending me in a referral to a spine clinic, okay thought i was getting somewhere(not). Okay so meantime i thought i'm not as bad as i was and the job wanted me to work so i agreed on partime to see how it goes and this is what happened.(sorry so long need some support here) I worked for two weeks limping some, pain some and came home after two days and my leg was really weak and walked out the door and my leg gave out on me and i fell bad, well, the next day after only going to a near by store to get milk i came back and couldn't move my leg up at all and went to the ER for what i felt was the worst pain ever and they gave me Valium to take along with my Vicodin wich by the way isn;t much effective after about a year or so now and then a shot of Dilotin and gave me another referal to the spine clinic as they haven't yet got me in there because they haven't got the info from my regular dr., meanwhile ER told me to go my regular dr. now i called and scheduled an appt. and i unfortuantely had to see a new one because my normal one was booked for the day. This Dr. did not exam me, told me she couldn't giveme anything stronger for the pain, told me i have chronic pain and need to deal with it and gave me another muscle relaxer , and i started to cry and she said , don't cry it will only send signals to your brain that you are weak. Now someone who already limps daily and has pain is not gonna be working in my opionion, it's showing others that your not gonna let this get the best of you without a fight. So here i wait for them to get this info about the for the referal and i get to not work because not they will not let me. And meanwhile i was feeling along my tailbone and found that here is something not right like something bulging, i am getting very worried as i know this not being addressed can tottaly or permantely disable you or whatnot, is there ways that you can find out if you have sciatic nerve damage or other tests that someone should be doing thier job that a person can find out? Or if something else? If i lose the use of my leg if they could have been more thorough about my conditon is there anything legally i can do on my end? I am a very outgoing and don't let things slow me down , but this i think is getting out of hand, do they actually want this to happen? Do they actually want to wait till i have bowel or bladder problems or what? Thanks for anyone that may have some insight to all this.
Conductor, this should tell you no, i do not feel like i have gotten any adequet treatment at all. I feel like i'm at a loss with all this and don't know where to turn, i love everyone on these boards for being here for me, but they cannot help me financialy, or diagnosis me, or give me the referals i need.
Love, Discouraged
P.S. Don't worry i'm not one to give up!
Wow!! For someone as long-winded as I usually am, I don't even know where to start!
There's a particular point I don't understand. There is NOTHING easier for a doctor than scheduling tests. What I mean by that is a doctor can push back the timeline in dealing with you by scheduling an excessive amount of tests. So, why can't all sorts of tests be run to find out what the real problem is?
I sure wish you could have seen your regular doctor that day instead of the genius who seemingly recognized that you have chronic pain but was not able to give you anything stronger. I can't think of an appropriate word for this doctor that won't get me permanently banned. And, she said that crying will tell your brain that you are weak? Physically...yes, you're weak. However, by not beating the snot out of her right then shows significant strength, in my opinion.
Monkey5...who is the bottom-line doctor you can turn to? You have got to find a way to say all of this to a doctor who will listen. Of course, you know this.
When it comes to legal matters, you have to get all of your records in great order to prove a specific wrongdoing. As bad as this sounds...You would probably need an "ambulance chaser" for something of this nature! The one thing I know about getting something done LEGALLY is that you must have all of your paperwork completed!
I can now fully understand why you're discouraged. Heck...I'm even discouraged over this one.
So, is there any SINGLE aspect of this you can work on? YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST REPRESENTATIVE! No, you don't have anything to prove to me! I believe you. Fortunately--by your own admission--you don't let things slow you down. You need that kind of outlook!
Others will read this and offer suggestions, too. I hope we can ultimately help you find the best solution.
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