Pain Management at Legacy Health
People used to think that severe pain was something they "just had to put up with." But with current treatments that's no longer true. Today you can work with your nurses and doctors before and after surgery to prevent or relieve pain.
See our Pain Management Center.
Be prepared
Being prepared helps put you in control. You may want to write down your questions before you meet with your doctor or nurse. Understand your treatment plan, including why and how it will done. Here are some good questions to ask:
- Will there be much pain?
- Where will it occur?
- How long is it likely to last?
Let us know
As a patient at Legacy, we want you to be as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Pain can be a sign of problems, so if you're feeling discomfort, please let your doctors and nurses know. Never worry about being a "bother," and don't automatically assume that you need less pain medication because your pain is under control.
By controlling pain, you will:
- Enjoy greater comfort while you heal
- Get your strength back faster
- Feel better sooner
- Avoid problems such as pneumonia and blood clots
- Leave the hospital sooner
Medication options
- PCA pump (Patient Controlled Analgesia) allows you to control when you get pain medicine. When you begin to feel pain, you press a button to inject the pain medicine through the intravenous (IV) tube into your vein.
- Epidural is a small tube placed in your back by the anesthesiologist. The tube is connected to a pump that delivers pain medicine.
- Injection is dose of medicine given via a syringe into a muscle.
- Oral Medication is taken by mouth in pill or liquid form.
For best results take your pain medicine as prescribed, or if you're an inpatient ask the nurse for medication when the pain starts. If you know your pain will worsen when you start getting out of bed, walking, or doing breathing exercises, take the medication first. It's harder to ease pain once it has taken hold.
You may be interested in these suggestions about non-drug pain control methods.
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