For many people, pain from conditions like a broken bone, or maybe overdoing their normal exercise regime, comes and goes. It is aggravating, but tolerable. For many other individuals, there is a disorder known as chronic pain, which causes the person unbearable physical pain, often accompanied by mental and emotional problems including depression and heightened anxiety.

The result can affect a person’s entire life, causing isolation and inactivity. Careers, family relationships and even routine daily activities can be affected, making it nearly impossible to function normally. If this sounds familiar, you may be one person among the nearly 50 million Americans, who have chronic pain, a condition defined as pain lasting three months or longer.

Carroll Hospital Center’s Outpatient Advanced Pain Management Center was developed to help people with severe, chronic and debilitating pain, receive treatment. Pain management physicians develop treatment plans based on each patient's needs, and may work with other health professionals such as primary care physicians, physical therapists, orthopaedic surgeons, physiatrists and neurologists. Patients are referred to a pain management specialist by their primary care doctor, orthopaedic physician or rehab specialist.

The Center offers treatment options for a variety of types of chronic pain, including:

• Severe back and leg pain
• Headache
• Complex regional pain syndrome (also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or RSD)
• Neck and upper arm pain
• Nerve damage
• Severe muscle spasm
• Cervical disc disease
• Chronic acute pain associated with cancer and other serious health conditions

The Advance Pain Management Center offers many types of interventional procedures including:

• Nerve block injections
• Spinal injections (spinal infusion pump)
• Radiofrequency ablation (radiofrequency energy is used to heat nerve tissue and deactivate pain–generating nerve fibers)
• Disc decompression
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Insertion of a drug delivery system

The Advanced Pain Management Center is located within the Richard N. Dixon Ambulatory Care Center at 291 Stoner Avenue, Westminster. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. All visits to the center are scheduled by appointment only. For more information regarding pain management or to schedule an appointment at the Advanced Pain Management Center, please call 410-871-6191.

If you’re in pain, we can help you to feel better.