Medical - Pain Medicine experts

Introduction

Pain medicine, also known as medical or osteopathic doctors, treat pain caused by disease, disorder, or trauma. all have a primary specialty which could be in anaesthetics, psychiatry, surgery, rehabilitation medicine or general practice. To arrive at their conclusions osteopathic doctors often consult with primary treating doctors, alongside information gathered from radiology, psychiatry, oncology, amongst other fields, to garner the correct strategies that can be used to alleviate pain that a patient may be experiencing. There are generally two types of pain one may experience: acute pain (short-lived) and chronic pain (lasting more than 3 months).

The overall goal of pain medicine is to manage acute or chronic pain by reducing pain frequency and intensity. To do, these experts may often employ basic questions such as:

• On a scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the worse pain imaginable, rate your pain.

• When did pain start? What were you doing when pain started?

• Does pain spread into other areas of the body?

• Is its intensity constant, or is it worse at different times of the day or night?

• What helps to relieve the pain? What makes pain worse?

• What treatments have you tried? What worked? What failed?

• Do you take over-the-counter medications, vitamins, or herbal supplements?

• Do you take prescription medication? If so, what, how much, and how often?

At times, pain medicine specialists may require a patient to obtain an X-ray, CT scan or MRI study to confirm the cause of the pain. After these specialists have obtained the appropriate diagnosis as to whether the pain is acute, or chronic, they may prescribe:

• pain medicines.

• physical therapies (such as heat or cold packs, massage, hydrotherapy and exercise)

• psychological therapies (such as cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation techniques and meditation)

• mind and body techniques (such as acupuncture)

• community support groups.

The specific specialisation and background needed by orthopaedic knee expert will be determined by the matter which requires examination.

At the bottom of this profile are brief details of a number of the experts that Expert Experts represents. Call our office to discuss your requirements and to obtain a recommendation that suits your needs and budget.

Expertise in Action

By assessing a patients’ pain, a pain medicine specialist would be able to determine where the origins of a patients’ pain may have arisen. This may be particularly useful in determination of chronic and acute pain which may have arisen due to failed ergonomics, negligent safety procedures, or a physical altercation which left a party with residual pain. This would prove greatly useful in cases which require determination of fault or liability which may have arisen due to negligence in safety procedures, for example. This evidence may prove greatly useful to a legal matter.

Sample Reports

For some fields of expertise we have some sample sections of de-identified reports. Please contact our office if you are interested in a sample.

Cost

The overall cost of expert opinion depends on the services required. Some of the key factors that affect the cost of advice include:

• The need for a view or inspection of a location
• The quantity of documentary material to be reviewed
• Whether there are reports of other experts to be reviewed and commented on in detail
• Whether there is a need for conferences with the expert either in person or by telephone/Skype

Relevant Articles ‘Incompetent’ NSW doctor banned for five years after woman dies following pain relief injections

This article examines a tribunal’s decision to label a doctor’s lack of insight into pain relief medication to be negligent.

Pain medicine specialists innovate to tackle America’s ongoing opioid epidemic by reducing misuse after surgery

This article details how pain medicine specialists are leading the way in addressing the opioid epidemic by developing strategies to reduce opioid misuse related to surgery. This is done by easing the pain before any surgical procedure is performed to prevent addiction from occurring in the first place

Relevant Cases Wilkinson and Comcare (Compensation) [2021] AATA 931 (21 April 2021)

This matter relates to a compensation claim that arose due to a growing condition affecting the lumbar region of a firefighters back. This led to chronic pain which was diagnosed by pain medicine specialists.

Smith and Comcare (Compensation) [2020] AATA 870 (17 April 2020)

This compensation claim required pain medicine specialists to comment on whether the claimant’s employment significantly contributed to her ailment of chronic pain.

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