Pain and Headaches
Many people with acute and chronic pain seek care at NaturoMedica for evaluation and alternative treatments.
Acute and chronic pain can be a symptom in many different health conditions. NaturoMedica physicians do not prescribe traditional pain medications. However, many people are seeking alternatives to these potentially addictive medications that often have negative side effects. NaturoMedica is an integrative medical clinic that offers a variety of alternative pain management therapies including dietary changes, nutritional supplements and some prescription medications. In addition to our Naturopathic medical care, we offer other specialty pain management services—such as Acupuncture—as effective alternative treatments for acute and chronic pain.
Common pain conditions treated at NaturoMedica include the following:
- Arthritis and joint pain (including frozen shoulder)
- Headaches (including tension headaches and migraine headaches)
- Nerve Pain (including sciatica and neuropathy)
- Acute injuries (including whiplash, concussions and other trauma-related pain)
- Soft tissue inflammation and overuse injuries (including tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and carpal tunnel)
- Chronic Pain (including fibromyalgia and endometriosis)
The feeling of pain can be described in a variety of ways—mild, sharp, severe, dull, aching, stabbing, tingling and burning. Pain does not feel the same for everyone and it is important to be able to describe pain clearly with a detailed description including where it is, how frequent, and how severe. Keeping a pain diary to share with your NaturoMedica physician is a useful tool. When keeping a pain journal, it is beneficial to note what makes your pain better and what makes it worse. Rating the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 = most painful) to help quantify the level of pain you are experiencing is also important.
As well as asking you questions about the pain, your doctor will examine you and may arrange for you to have further testing to help identify underlying causes of pain. Musculoskeletal injuries, immune system dysfunction, pinched nerves, chronic infection, food intolerances, nutritional deficiencies, and hormone imbalances are all common reasons people will develop pain and inflammation. NaturoMedica physicians use a variety of diagnostic tools including standard and alternative lab testing and imaging such as X-rays, Ultrasounds, CT scans and MRIs to help identify the source of pain.
Treatments for pain may include standard Naturopathic therapies such as dietary changes and nutritional supplements to decrease inflammation and help with tissue repair. Acupuncture, Neural Prolotherapy and Biofeedback are some of the additional specialty services offered at NaturoMedica that are effective modalities to treat pain and reduce the need for conventional pain medications. Sometimes NaturoMedica physicians will refer to specialists including Chiropractors, Physiatrists, Orthopedists and Neurologists for further evaluation. We often find that a team approach among different practitioners can provide valuable insight when treating those with acute and chronic pain conditions.
Having daily pain can be a miserable experience for you and those around you. NaturoMedica provides an integrative healthcare team that will help evaluate your pain and devise a comprehensive treatment plan. We want to help you maintain a healthy and active lifestyle and do the things you want to do pain free.
