Dealing with chronic pain can be difficult, debilitating, and demoralizing, and it can sometimes feel like there’s no end in sight. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, a pain management clinic might be what you need.

Now let’s say you’ve decided to go to your first pain management appointment. You may have a lot of concerns, such as what to expect at your first appointment, or when you’ll get the treatment that you need. This article will explain what happens at your first pain management appointment and what you can expect going forward.

What Do Pain Management Clinics Do?

Pain management clinics are a type of health care provider that specializes in the treatment of pain. They provide patients with a variety of treatment options, such as physical therapy and injections. They also educate patients on ways to manage their pain and live a pain-free lifestyle like exercising regularly, which can help reduce the levels of pain in the body.

However, pain management clinics are not the same as primary care providers, who will treat and diagnose patients for a wide range of conditions, injuries, and illnesses.

What To Expect At A Pain Clinic

Pain clinics are primarily concerned with pain and its causes, rather than treating particular injuries or conditions. Most pain clinics focus on patients with chronic pain that has been resistant to treatments.

At Pain & Spine Institute in Chicago, we offer a wide variety of pain treatments for patients who are in need of relief but haven’t been able to find it in common pain relief treatments. Here are some examples of treatments we provide:

Botox for migraine headaches
Medial branch blocks for back pain
Epidurals for many different types of pain
Spinal cord stimulator implants
Supartz for knee pain
…and much more!

What To Bring For Your First Pain Management Appointment

Referral information, if you were referred by a primary care doctor.
Insurance card
Government-issued ID/driver’s license
Medical records, as needed, including x-rays, MRI, and CT scans related to your condition.
Payment for any co-pays.

Procedure For Your First Appointment

Before you arrive, we ask that you schedule an appointment with us. You can do this by calling 815-729-0700 or clicking here and scrolling to You can do this by calling 815-729-0700 or clicking here and scrolling to Request an Appointment

When you arrive, you’ll be asked to confirm your appointment information and provide contact details.

Once your doctor is available, they will bring you in to discuss your medical history, current diagnoses, past treatments tried, and important details regarding your situation. This will allow them to understand your situation better.

You’ll then discuss your goals and expectations. You can discuss with the doctor what kinds of treatments you have looked into.

Once you’ve gone through your situation with your doctor, they will make a recommendation. Most of the time, patients will be scheduled for an appointment for their treatment at a future date. In some cases, patients are referred to other specialists.