Our Specialties & Treatment Options for Pain

Our expert team at NYU Langone’s Center for the Study and Treatment of Pain cares for a wide variety of pain problems, from acute to chronic conditions. Rather than giving you a one-size-fits-all treatment plan, we offer a broad spectrum of therapies that are tailored to your individual needs.

Conditions we provide treatment for include:

• atypical facial pain 
• bursitis
• fibromyalgia
• headache and migraine
• herniated disk 
• hip osteoarthritis
• muscle-related back pain and neck pain
• peripheral neuropathy
• rheumatoid arthritis
• scoliosis
• spinal stenosis
• trigeminal neuralgia

Treatment Options for Pain

Our team of specialists provides you with a comprehensive, pain-focused evaluation to determine the best course of treatment for you based on your unique history and lifestyle.

Therapies may include the following.

Medication

The most common pain medications include anti-inflammatory analgesics, opioids, and nerve pain medications, as well as some antidepressants. We help people who have become dependent on pain medications carefully withdraw from the medications that may no longer be serving them.  

If appropriate, you are placed on a time-dependent schedule of non-addictive, nonnarcotic analgesics that may be supplemented with other drugs. Some people may take long-term opioids as needed, if our team deems them beneficial to your individual needs. 

Every effort is made to minimize side effects and interference with your lifestyle.

Nerve Blocks and Trigger Point Injections

Nerve blocks and trigger point injections are local anesthetics or steroid injections that can help by interrupting pain transmission, relaxing muscles, and decreasing inflammation, as well as allowing for you to better engage in physical therapy. 

During your lesser-pain periods, physical therapy is initiated, and you’re encouraged to return to your normal activities.

Psychological Treatments

Cognitive behavioral treatment is often helpful in minimizing the effects of chronic pain and improving your overall quality of life. Specific strategies may include relaxation training, hypnosis, and individual and group counseling.

Rehabilitation

Chronic pain may cause you to restrict your daily activities, possibly hindering your ability to work or do basic things like clean your house, play with your kids, or simply enjoy life. Moreover, failing to be active can lead to muscle atrophy and make you even less mobile.  

Our team works with you to help you regain your mobility with range-of-motion therapy, muscle strengthening, massage, and proper postural training that gradually increases in intensity to help you eventually return to your regular activities.

Implantable Devices

Implantable medication devices deliver analgesics directly to the nerves to alleviate chronic and cancer pain. An example is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. 

This electrical device is worn and regulated by you, and provides a safe and painless level of electrical stimulation that interferes with pain transmission and perception. 

Spinal Cord Stimulation

Electrodes are placed on the spine to reduce pain conduction at the spinal level. Spinal cord stimulation works particularly well for nerve pain.

Radiofrequency Lesioning

Another method of chronic pain relief is to destroy the nerves causing the pain. One method, radiofrequency ablation, uses radio waves to create an electrical current to heat and destroy the nerve. This can be effective for nerve or osteoarthritic pain.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture is an example of a traditional Chinese medicine technique that uses tiny, painless needles to stimulate various energy points in the body to help release endorphins that may block pain signals.