What Pain Management Clinics Can Do For You After an Accident
If you have been injured in an accident and are dealing with residual pain involving your incident, then going about your daily life can be a challenge. Dealing with ongoing pain can make it nearly impossible to sleep and perform daily functions, let alone work, go to school or attend to other responsibilities.
While there are medications that can help you get over the initial discomfort following an injury, there are many people who continue to live with chronic pain—the lasting type of pain that can make virtually every activity a challenge. If persistent pain has become part of your everyday life, then a pain clinic may be a great option for you.
Fortunately, there are dozens of pain clinics around New York and plenty of offices that are available to help those in pain get back on the path to recovery.
While no one ever wants to be in a position of needing a pain management clinic, it is important to understand what these clinics are and how they can help you get your life back to normal following an accident.
What is a Pain Management Clinic?
If you have never been to a pain management clinic before, this type of health clinic can help you diagnose and manage chronic pain. Most of these clinics are rather general, while others will focus specifically on neck and back pain.
The pain management clinic will typically have a team of professionals including nurses, doctors, physical and occupational therapists as well as other health care professionals. Some clinics will also have anesthesiologists, psychologists, nutritionists, chiropractors, acupuncturists or dieticians.
At these clinics, the team of medical professionals will make sure that you have the medications that you need to help control the symptoms of your pain, as well as other therapies that can help you manage the pain moving forward. This may include coaching you on lifestyle changes and how to manage your chronic pain in a way that allows you to function as normal.
The goal of the pain management clinic is to help you feel like yourself again, so you can not only live pain-free but so you can return to life as normal.
Depending on the extent of your injuries, and on the type of pain you are in you may only need to see a pain management specialist a few times—or you may require a more consistent, ongoing treatment plan.
Covering the Cost of a Pain Management Doctor
Under New York law, your pain management medical costs may be covered by personal injury protection (PIP). New York auto accidents are also covered by no-fault insurance. This means that anyone who insured can generally be reimbursed for damages—no matter who is responsible for the accident. This can include costs to cover bodily injury as well as the recovery for the medical bills associated with that injury.
If you have sustained injuries due to an accident on the job, your medical bills will be covered under the NYS Worker’s Compensation law. You have to also make sure that your pain management doctorshave been authorized to treat injured workers by the Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB).
The key to making sure you get this type of coverage is to see a medical doctor right away following an accident. This is the best way to make you get the help you need and coverage for your costs is to go to the doctor as soon as you are able. With laws such as no-fault insurance coverage, you need to go see a physician within 30 days of the accident to get coverage.
Pain management clinics can be a great way to get over the pain you have suffered following an accident—all you need to do is take the first step and contact a New York pain management doctor to start the recovery process.
