Pain medicine specialists work with patients to relieve suffering and discomfort that may be present during a medical or surgical procedure, or because of a disease or condition. An anesthesiologist is a physician who has had special training and is board-certified in pain management. A pain medicine specialist can be an anesthesiologist, neurologist, or psychiatrist. This specialist is either the primary physician, or acts as a consultant, to coordinate a patient’s care with other physicians.
For chronic or severe pain, narcotics are often used. Narcotics carry with them a potential for side effects and addiction, so patients and physicians must weigh the level of pain against these concerns in the pain management process.
Doctor density varies by specialty and location. The United States has 6,759 practicing pain medicine doctors. Broken out by state, pain medicine doctor density in Alabama is 97, in Alaska is 21, in Arizona is 145, in Arkansas is 41, in California is 783, in Colorado is 102, in Connecticut is 80, in Delaware is 43, in District of Columbia is 19, in Florida is 573, in Georgia is 197, in Hawaii is 25, in Idaho is 16, in Illinois is 345, in Indiana is 157, in Iowa is 51, in Kansas is 55, in Kentucky is 99, in Louisiana is 90, in Maine is 43, in Maryland is 172, in Massachusetts is 182, in Michigan is 187, in Minnesota is 69, in Mississippi is 48, in Missouri is 144, in Montana is 23, in Nebraska is 23, in Nevada is 59, in New Hampshire is 44, in New Jersey is 280, in New Mexico is 31, in New York is 505, in North Carolina is 184, in North Dakota is 9, in Ohio is 275, in Oklahoma is 60, in Oregon is 52, in Pennsylvania is 388, in Rhode Island is 17, in South Carolina is 111, in South Dakota is 16, in Tennessee is 103, in Texas is 472, in Utah is 47, in Vermont is 13, in Virginia is 148, in Washington is 117, in West Virginia is 35, in Wisconsin is 117, and in Wyoming is 4.
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