Pain Management

Conditions Treated

Find your care

Our specially trained physicians offer customized care plans, effective treatments and pain management for all types of pain. Call 310-794-1841 to connect with a doctor who specializes in pain medicine.

Find a provider
Request an appointment
Our locations

Conditions Associated with Chronic Pain

At the UCLA Comprehensive Pain Centers, our physician anesthesiologists who specialize in pain medicine are experts in diagnosing and treating the full range of conditions that cause pain. Acute pain may result from an injury that occurs at work, while playing sports, or in an accident. It may also occur after a surgical procedure, or from a flare-up of a medical condition such as arthritis. If the pain doesn’t lessen after the usual recovery period, or continues for a prolonged time and interferes with quality of life, then it is considered chronic pain.

Depression, insomnia, interruption of personal relationships, loss of employment, and dependence on narcotics are just some of the harmful effects that may be caused by chronic pain. For these reasons, chronic pain is considered a serious medical condition that can and should be treated by physician-led care teams specializing in pain medicine. We offer treatment for all the conditions listed below.

In this section:

Back and Neck Pain

spine pain

Back and neck pain are among the most common reasons for consultation with a physician who specializes in pain medicine. Pain may occur anywhere along the spine:  the cervical spine in the neck, the thoracic spine in the mid-back, the lumbar spine in the lower back, or in the sacrum or coccyx at the lowest part of the back. Pain may result from different problems, including:

Dr. George Pan explains why surgery is sometimes needed for back pain in this video.

shoulder pain

Pain in the Joints

Pain in the joints, including the hips, knees, shoulders, or ankles, may be due to a variety of conditions or injuries:

  • Arthritis
  • Avascular necrosis (video)
  • Bursitis
  • Osteoarthritis   
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Rotator cuff injury

 

 

Pain After Surgery

Watch post-laminectomy video

Typically, pain after surgery will resolve in a few days to weeks. Sometimes, pain doesn’t go away or even becomes worse in the weeks to months following surgery. These postoperative pain syndromes may develop after a variety of different operations, including:

Nerve-related Pain

The nervous system itself can be the source of pain. The term for pain associated with specific nerves is “neuralgia”. The term “neuropathy” refers to a type of damage to the nervous system, which may be associated with diseases such as diabetes, or with medications used for cancer chemotherapy. Conditions with nerve-related pain include:

Dr. Parisa Sadoughi explains more about complex regional pain syndrome in this video.

Other Painful Conditions

Watch myofascial pain video