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 6,879 practicing pain medicine doctors. Broken out by state, pain medicine doctor density in Alabama is 98, in Alaska is 21, in Arizona is 148, in Arkansas is 41, in California is 790, in Colorado is 104, in Connecticut is 80, in Delaware is 44, in District of Columbia is 19, in Florida is 577, in Georgia is 200, in Hawaii is 25, in Idaho is 17, in Illinois is 352, in Indiana is 158, in Iowa is 51, in Kansas is 55, in Kentucky is 103, in Louisiana is 92, in Maine is 45, in Maryland is 176, in Massachusetts is 185, in Michigan is 189, in Minnesota is 69, in Mississippi is 49, in Missouri is 144, in Montana is 23, in Nebraska is 24, in Nevada is 63, in New Hampshire is 45, in New Jersey is 286, in New Mexico is 31, in New York is 507, in North Carolina is 188, in North Dakota is 9, in Ohio is 281, in Oklahoma is 61, in Oregon is 52, in Pennsylvania is 391, in Rhode Island is 17, in South Carolina is 111, in South Dakota is 16, in Tennessee is 104, in Texas is 476, in Utah is 47, in Vermont is 13, in Virginia is 150, in Washington is 118, in West Virginia is 35, in Wisconsin is 119, and in Wyoming is 4.
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