Southern Pain Specialists

Medical Psychology Pain Assessment

     Patients with painful conditions that have lasted more than 6 months, frequently react to their suffering by being upset, by developing non-constructive behaviors, and by loss of quality of life. These are natural consequences of long-term suffering, but if undetected or left unaddressed, these emotional and behavioral reactions to pain can result in an aggravation of the painful condition, further loss of quality of life, and eventual disability.

     Furthermore, demographically speaking, some patients are good candidates for certain procedures and or surgery, and some are not. In some states, (Texas is one example), all back-surgery candidates who were injured on the job must be evaluated by a medical psychologist, before surgery is actually performed.

     Sophisticated medical psychology methods enable us to predict, with a high degree of accuracy, which patients will do well with a certain treatment option. The intent in medical psychology evaluations is three-pronged:

     1) Reduce suffering by preventing unnecessary surgeries on patients who are likely to have poor surgical outcomes;

     2) Reduce healthcare costs, but recommending the best treatment options for each patient;

     3) Help design the best comprehensive treatment program possible for patients with chronic pain.

The types of evaluations performed at Southern Pain Specialists include:

Medical Psychology Evaluations
Pain Evaluations
Health and Behavior Assessments
Pre-surgical Evaluations
Pre-implant Evaluations
Headache Evaluations
Fibromyalgia Evaluations
Forensic Evaluations