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 Shahrokh Ilbeigi, M.D., Co-Medical Director of the Pain Management Center at Clara Maass Medical Center (left), prepares a patient for treatment with assistance from Michel Bibawy, M.D., Co-Medical Director (right), and Makram Ghobrial, M.D., Medical Director of Anesthesiology at Clara Maass.
BELLEVILLE, N.J. -- Patients experiencing chronic pain can find that relief is available through a new Pain Management Center at Clara Maass Medical Center.
The Center, housed within a new Health and Wellness Center at Clara Maass, offers patients the opportunity to alleviate themselves of unresolved, persistent pain that has lasted for more than three months. According to Shahrokh Ilbeigi, M.D., an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist who is Co-Medical Director of the Pain Management Center, the goal of pain management at the center will be to treat and/or reduce pain to a level of acceptance by the patient.
"Intervention early in pain management is crucial to the positive outcome of many pain-related problems," says Dr. Ilbeigi. "It is possible for pain to be cured 100 percent if treated in the early stages."
The Pain Management Center utilizes a multidisciplinary approach in establishing a protocol for patients that includes medical, psychological, physical, and pharmacological treatments. Psychology plays one of the most critical roles in the treatment of chronic pain by far, however, says Dr. Ilbeigi, who emphasizes the necessity of developing a program that incorporates this aspect of pain management.
"Once a patient has experienced pain over a period of time it becomes more difficult to treat because the body has conditioned itself to feel it. Breaking this vicious cycle of chronic pain becomes possible with the utmost attention paid towards the psychological component," says Dr. Ilbeigi.
When a patient is referred to the Pain Management Center, an assessment is made after an analysis of past and present treatments, surgeries, or illnesses. A typical program designed by the pain specialists may include biofeedback, medication, physical or occupational therapy, and if needed, more intense procedures such as nerve blocks or trigger point injections. A treatment program generally will test the efficacy of non-invasive techniques before graduating to more invasive procedures.
"The first thing we do in pain management is rule out medical or surgical reasons for pain," says anesthesiologist and pain management specialist Michel Bibawy, M.D., Co-Medical Director of the new Pain Management Center. "For instance, I am not going to treat a patient who has gall stones or kidney problems until this problem is treated and the pain still persists.
"Specialists who refer patients to a pain center early on in the patient's pain history are really doing them a huge favor," Dr. Bibawy continues. "The longer pain persists, the greater the likelihood of resorting to more invasive procedures. Patients who are in chronic pain need to be evaluated by a pain specialist as soon as possible."
The Pain Management Center at Clara Maass offers help to patients experiencing conditions such as back and neck pain, including herniated discs, spinal stenosis and tumors, chronic abdominal pain and pelvic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), intractable spasticity, muscle and joint pain, disorders of the nervous system, including shingles and trigeminal neuralgia (facial pain), pain and ulcers of the skin resulting from poor circulation, and pain associated with AIDS and cancer.
Some of the treatments pain specialists may use at the Pain Management Center include spinal drug delivery systems, spinal cord stimulation, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), acupuncture and bioelectric treatment.
"Each patient receives an individualized treatment plan designed to eliminate or reduce pain so that they can return to a normal, productive life as soon as possible," Dr. Ilbeigi says.
Clara Maass Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, provides a complete continuum of care to residents of northern New Jersey. Located in Belleville, Clara Maass offers acute care services through Clara Maass Medical Center; skilled, rehabilitative care through the Continuing Care Center at Belleville; assisted living and long-term care through the Continuing Care Center at Kearny; home health care through JerseyCare Home Health; and diagnostic radiology services through Progressive Imaging Center.
Other centers of medical excellence include the Women's Health Center, nuclear medicine, The Cancer Center, diagnostic cardiac services including cardiac catheterization and rehabilitation, The Wound Center at Clara Maass, same day surgery, Pain Management Institute, Orthopedic Spine & Joint
Institute, and maternal/child health programs. For more information
on Clara Maass programs and services, please call 1-800-CLARA MAASS.
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