Still in pain after surgery?

When post-surgical pain needs a specialist

Pain that continues for more than about three months after an operation, beyond the expected healing time, is called chronic post-surgical pain. It is common after knee replacement, shoulder repair, spine surgery and hernia repair. It is treatable, and it is a different problem from the surgical repair itself.

• Ask your surgeon for the operative report and recent imaging to bring to the pain specialist.
• Common options include nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablation, targeted injections, medication changes and guided physical therapy.
• Burning, electric or numb pain around the scar can be nerve pain, which responds to different treatment than joint pain.

Choosing a pain doctor in Southern California

• Check the license with the Medical Board of California. Physicians can also be looked up on DocInfo.org.
• Ask whether the doctor is board certified in pain medicine (through anesthesiology, PM&R or neurology).
• Ask which procedures are done in the office and which at a surgery center, and who reads your imaging.
• Bring a list of medicines, prior imaging (MRI, X-ray) and the dates your pain started or changed.
• In California, prescribers check the CURES database before prescribing controlled pain medicines, so tell the doctor about every prescription you take.