Pain Management

GW Pain Center

More than 13 million Americans suffer from chronic, intractable pain so intense that many find it difficult to work, sleep or maintain a satisfying quality of life.

Managing Your Pain

The Pain Center at The George Washington University Hospital can help people living with acute, subacute or chronic pain. The board-certified physicians at The GW Pain Center strive to provide a multidisciplinary, individualized treatment plan to ease pain, reduce disability and improve function.  We work with orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and neurology professionals to optimally coordinate patient care.  

We also integrate physical therapy and psychological services to effectively treat several conditions, including:

Disorders of the Spine

• Degenerative disc disease; cervical, thoracic and lumbar
• Radiculopathy; cervical, thoracic and lumbar
• Whiplash-associated disorders
• Cervical and lumbar strain
• Facet disease; cervical, thoracic and lumbar
• Sacroiliac joint pain

Nerve-related Pain (Neuropathic Pain)

• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)
• Peripheral or diabetic neuropathy
• Phantom limb pain/post-amputation pain
• HIV-related pain
• Peripheral nerve injury
• Central pain syndromes (post-stroke pain, post-spinal cord injury pain)
• Post-herpetic neuralgia and herpes zoster
• Headaches (occipital neuralgia, migraines, tension headache, cluster headache)
• Facial pain – TMJ, neuromas (trauma), atypical facial pain

Postsurgical Pain

• Groin pain (post-hernia repair)
• Post-thoracotomy pain

Musculoskeletal Pain

• Myofascial Pain Syndrome
• Chest wall pain
• Piriformis Syndrome
• Arthritis, joint pain

Abdominal/Pelvic Pain

Cancer Pain

Fibromyalgia

Treatment Options

The GW Pain Center provides a comprehensive range of programs and clinical options.

Some treatment methods involve:

Nerve blockades and other anesthesia injections – Patients may be treated with regional anesthetic techniques including facet blocks, epidural blocks, trigger point injections, botulinum toxin injections, nerve blocks and neurolytic blocks. Some procedures may be performed under X-ray guidance.

Medication management – Patients may receive analgesics and other medications for symptoms associated with a pain condition (e.g., depression). Patients placed on potentially habit-forming medications may be asked to comply with a written treatment contract limiting the conditions by which those medications will be prescribed.

Implantable devices – Patients may be treated by using implantable devices for pain control. These include dorsal column stimulators and devices such as intrathecal pumps.

Psychotherapy – Patients may receive counseling for pain management or for other psychological conditions associated with pain control.

Ancillary services – Patients may be referred for one or more ancillary services to treat chronic pain, including surgery, physical therapy, occupational therapy and the GW Center for Integrative Medicine.