 |
| Home > Departments (Clinics) > Pain Clinic |
|
Pain Medicine Clinic
- Location: Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, Room #7B57
- Hours of Operation: 0700 - 1500, Monday - Friday (closed all military family days and federal holidays)
- Phone: (210) 292-7160
- DSN: 554-7160
- FAX: (210) 292-4204
- Pain Clinic Medication Prescription Refills: (210) 292-3373. Leave name, ID#, medication name, tablet size, dosing (number of pills, and how many times per day) and pharmacy.
- POC: 59th SGC/SG01M
Referrals to the Pain Medicine Clinic are for patients who are suffering from a chronic pain condition that has not responded to conservative therapy. Usually, the cause of your pain has already been diagnosed, through history, exams, and studies; however, sometimes, the exact cause has not yet been identified. We are here to assist in identifying the cause of your pain, which may involve other studies and diagnostic injections, and in treating your pain with medications or injections. Our approach to Pain Medicine is multidisciplinary, which means possible referral to other clinics for assistance in treating your pain, including physical therapy, clinical health psychology, surgical or other specialty clinics.
We understand that chronic pain can significantly impact a patient's quality of life. For many of you, there is no cure for your pain: this means that the condition causing your pain has no "easy fix", unlike a broken bone or an infection. The painful condition may remain with you indefinitely, like diabetes or high blood pressure, and our goal will be symptom management. While all of our patients suffer from pain, each patient is unique in their response to different therapies. It may take time (several visits over several months) and trial and error until we can find the right combination of treatments for each individual patient.
While we may not be able to cure your pain, we will do everything we can to alleviate your suffering. We cannot do this without your help. This means compliance with medications and treatment regimens, patience, and realistic goals. Like other chronic medical conditions, exercise, weight loss, stress reduction, and a healthy lifestyle will improve many of you and reduce the need for medications and injections. Together, our overall goal will be to help you improve your quality of life and your day-to-day functioning. If your expectations are otherwise, we will not be able to help you as much.
Unfortunately, due to the large and growing number of patients being treated in our clinic, the interval between appointments will be several weeks. We apologize for this. We will often utilize this time by giving instructions for daily exercises or by increasing medications incrementally.
Significant medication side effects or problems after injections (e.g. significant increases in pain, new neurological symptoms, or signs of infection - fevers, chills, deep redness at the injection site) must be dealt with quickly via telephone message or the Emergency Room. In contrast, medication ineffectiveness, mild side effects, or only short-term pain relief will be addressed at the next clinic visit.
If you have any questions about this clinic, please feel free to ask them during your clinic visit. If you have any complaints or suggestions, feel free to express them as well. We are constantly trying to serve you better.
Policies
Ours is a small clinic, with only 1 or 2 staff physicians each day. We treat hundreds of patients with chronic pain problems. All of our patients suffer from moderate to severe pain. We are able to provide excellent medical care with limited resources, but only if we adhere to the policies outlined below. (If you have a "new" or different pain problem, you must see your Primary Care Provider.)
Appointments
- All appointments must be booked in advance.
- Please arrive 15 minutes before the appointment time.
- Patients arriving 15 minutes after the appointment time will have to be rescheduled.
- If you are unable to make it to an appointment, let us know as early as possible. The earlier we know, the earlier we can reschedule.
- If you will be late, let us know before your appointment time.
- Before leaving the clinic, make sure that arrangements have been made for the next appointment.
Exacerbations
Many patients have periods of increased pain, exacerbations of their usual pain.
- We will try to lessen these periods with our treatments.
- Rest, heat or ice, etc. may be helpful.
- If the increased pain has lasted more than a week and is interfering with your ability to work or take care of yourself, leave a telephone message with the clinic.
- If the increased pain requires immediate attention, go to an Emergency Room.
Telephone Messages
Hundreds of patients are treated in our small clinic.
- Leave only one message: multiple messages only slow down our ability to return messages by needlessly engaging the phone line and Pain Clinic personnel.
- By Wilford Hall standards, we must return your call within 3 clinic days. We will usually call back within 1 or 2 days.
- If immediate attention is required, go to an Emergency Room.
Walk-Ins
- It is not fair, to those patients who have appointments, to see those that do not.
- We cannot see walk-ins.
- If immediate attention is required, go to an Emergency Room.
|
|
|
|
|
