Effective Jan. 22, 2025, USCIS is waiving any and all requirements that applicants receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
Chronic pain (as opposed to acute pain) is arbitrarily defined as pain lasting longer than six months. The degree of pain can range anywhere from a mild annoyance to completely debilitating. Approximately 100 million Americans--nearly one in three--currently suffer from some degree of chronic pain.
Unfortunately, pharmaceutical companies misled the medical community and the public about the safety and effectiveness of opioid medications, which resulted in the well-publicized opioid crisis. Many doctors unwittingly contributed to this ongoing problem by overprescribing these drugs, resulting in millions of people becoming addicted. Opioid addiction is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of fifty.
Many people confuse physical dependence on pain medicine with drug addiction. This is probably the main barrier to proper treatment of BOTH problems. Physical dependence is a natural, expected, and predictable physiological response. In contrast, addiction involves a milieu of destructive, maladaptive, behavioral factors that result in psychological dependence. For example, while a diabetic may be physically dependent on insulin, no one would call the diabetic an "insulin addict." The same is true in the management of chronic pain.
Our practice does not and will not contribute to or perpetuate the horrors of the opioid crisis. We will find safe, proven alternative treatments for your chronic pain and address any addiction problems head on simultaneously. If you are taking prescription opioids for chronic pain when you become a member, you may expect to be safely and compassionately tapered off of this poison over the first one to three months of your membership.
Sadly, there is a shortage of physicians willing to provide help for chronic pain, due mainly to the fear of addiction. Sadder still, many people unnecessarily endure chronic pain for fear of becoming addicted. Obviously, there is a great deal of overlap between pain management and addiction medicine. We address both issues simultaneously to ensure the right balance.
Chronic pain management is included with your membership at no additional cost (except for drug and other testing, and medicine). Booking an appointment is a demonstration of your commitment to taking control of your chronic pain problem. If for any reason you go back on your commitment by canceling your appointment or showing up late for your appointment or failing to show at all for your appointment, your credit card on file will be charged an additional fifty dollars.
The initial screening appointment with Dr. Gordon usually lasts about an hour. Follow-up appointments last fifteen to forty-five minutes and may be via telephone, videophone, or in person.
We treat every client as an individual, so the frequency of appointments varies. However, a "typical" pain management client will have appointments weekly for the first month, and monthly thereafter.
The cost of medicine obviously varies depending on the particular needs of the client. However, in general, it is surprisingly affordable, especially when compared to the cost of obtaining drugs illegally or to the devastating cost to your quality of life of not being treated at all. We will assist with insurance pre-authorization to help defray the cost of medicine if the time and effort required are not cumbersome or disruptive.
If you are ready to receive kind, compassionate, personalized, and absolute private and discreet management of your chronic pain, call us for an appointment 913-787-5805.