Chronic Pain Patient Resources

The physicians and staff of The Pain Management Group recognize the importance of a wholistic approach to the life-long management of chronic pain. We do our best to raise patient awareness of pain psychology and total body wellness, for it is widely recognized that medication and interventional procedures are only a small part of the management of your illness.

There are numerous resources available in the Middle Tennessee region for adjunctive care. We refer many of our patients to area pain psychologists for individual and group therapy including, but not limited to, relaxation, biofeedback, and distraction method training. Perhaps the largest area provider of such care is the Centerstone organization. Their informative website is http://www.centerstone.org/

Vanderbilt University's Center for Integrative Health is another valuable resource for our patient population. In fact, information is available on their home page ( www.vanderbilthealth.com/integrativehealth ) for an upcoming program entitled "COPE: Compassionate Options for the Pain Experience". According to their site, this will be a two and half day immersion experience designed specifically for patients like ours.

In addition to such wonderful local resources, there is a plethora of legitimate patient support information, oftentimes specific to a disease state, available via the web. The Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association is one such group. Their website is http://www.rsds.org/ . Even local bookstores carry sections of books and magazines highlighting the chronic pain experience providing support. Pain Pathways Magazine is a particular favorite and it is available in Barnes & Noble Bookstores, or via subscription at http://www.painpathways.org/ . This beautiful full color magazine is publised quarterly and is full of articles written and edited by chronic pain health care professionals to be read by chronic pain patients.

Please feel free to discuss such additional therapies and support networks as those mentioned above with you healthcare professional when you next visit The Pain Management Group. We look forward to seeing you!