Post-Surgical Pain

Pain after surgery is something you expect, but for some people, pain doesn’t get better as they heal. If you’re still in pain long after surgery, visit the Union Anesthesia Associates team at one of their convenient offices in Union, Scotch Plains, Bloomfield, South Bound Brook, New Brunswick, Old Bridge, and Woodbridge, New Jersey. The board-certified pain management experts specialize in assessing and treating postsurgical pain using conservative and minimally invasive treatments. Call your nearest Union Anesthesia Associates office today or schedule a consultation online for help with postsurgical pain.

What is postsurgical pain?

Pain is normal after surgery because your tissues are damaged during the procedure. But your surgical team keeps it under control with pain-relieving medication. As you recover, pain levels decrease so that you gradually need less medication. You shouldn’t have more pain once the tissues fully heal (usually in 3-6 months).

Unfortunately, some patients continue to experience pain after surgery, even when the surgical site seems to have fully healed. This could be due to nerve damage, which can happen during surgery. Although surgeons are highly skilled and work to avoid nerve damage, it isn’t always possible.

Another cause of postsurgical pain is that the procedure fails to correct the original problem. For example, you undergo a discectomy (removal of a herniated disc from your spine) to relieve lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica) pain, but it doesn’t work.

Your risk of postsurgical pain is higher if you have conditions like depression, anxiety, peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), fibromyalgia, and certain autoimmune disorders.

What should I do if I have postsurgical pain?

Expect to experience pain after surgery; it’s normal. But it should ease over the weeks and months following the operation. If your pain fails to ease as expected, talk to your surgeon so that they can examine the area in case you need further treatment.

You could require further surgery, or an infection has developed in the wound. If you have a joint replacement, there could be a fault with the artificial parts. If investigations don’t find your pain’s cause, visit the experts at Union Anesthesia Associates for an evaluation.

How is postsurgical pain treated?

Postsurgical pain’s cause influences your treatment, so your doctor will run tests to find the pain’s origin. In addition, every patient’s postsurgical pain experience differs, and responses to specific treatments vary significantly.

The Union Anesthesia Associates team develops a personalized treatment plan for each postsurgical pain patient. Treatment focuses on the least invasive choices first, which include:

• Physical therapy
• Pain-relieving medication
• Anti-inflammatory drugs
• Low-dose antidepressants
• Antiseizure medication
• Pain management counseling

Many patients experience relief from postsurgical pain with these treatments. If you aren’t improving, the team offers many cutting-edge, minimally invasive procedures that might help, including:

• Nerve blocks (local anesthetic injections)
• Steroid injections
• Pulsed radiofrequency neurotomy (PRFN)
• Neuromodulation

Neurotomy and neuromodulation interfere with the pain messages nerves send to your brain.

Call Union Anesthesia Associates today or book an appointment online to learn more about effectively managing postsurgical pain.