Chronic Pain Clinic

When chronic pain interrupts your child’s daily routine and quality of life, it may be time to seek help. Our team of compassionate and highly skilled experts offers relief using thorough evaluations and carefully crafted, personalized treatment plans.

Our specialists at the Chronic Pain Clinic at Children’s Health℠ will work with your child to manage their pain. We will also give them coping skills so they can find a way to return to the activities they enjoy most. Our goal is to get your child back to their normal routine using a treatment plan that is developed with input from a pain management physician, physical therapist and psychologist.

We’re proud to treat more than 200 new patients each year at the Children’s Health Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinic.

Focused on quickly developing a treatment plan to reduce pain

During your initial visit to the chronic pain clinic, three care providers will see your child—a pain management physician, physical therapist and psychologist. Each will meet with you and your child for 30 minutes to an hour. The entire visit will last three to four hours. By spending that amount of time with you, we can be as thorough as possible and develop a treatment plan.

You will also leave with a follow-up visit scheduled with one of our pain management advanced practice providers. The follow-up will last about one hour and is an opportunity to evaluate your child’s progress on the previously provided recommendations and make changes as needed.

Our care team treats more than the physical effects of chronic pain

We realize physical pain also affects your child’s emotional well-being. That’s why our care team is built around treating the whole child.  

Your chronic pain management team consists of:

Board-Certified Pain Management Physician - Our pain management physicians have extensive experience in assessing and treating pain in children. They will be responsible for the overall care plan after coordinating with other team members. The pain physician will determine whether medication or other appropriate treatment options will effectively treat the pain. They will also discuss ways to improve your child’s daily level of functioning.

Physical Therapist – Our physical therapists assess the effect of pain on the body's strength, movement and posture. They will evaluate which exercises can be used to reduce pain.  Physical therapy is often more effective than medications and injections to relieve a number of painful conditions, including sports injuries, back pain and musculoskeletal pain. They will recommend a physical therapy program for your child or provide resources and home exercises.

Psychologist – Our psychologists will work with a child to develop coping skills and implement behavioral medicine techniques that may be extremely effective in controlling pain and reducing stress. This is a vital assessment, since we know that stress and anxiety play a large role in most chronic pain cases. Our psychologist can provide resources for therapy services, if recommended.