Your initial visit to the Chronic Pain Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital includes a comprehensive evaluation by a team of specialists. Here’s what to expect and how to prepare.
Before your visit
Prior to your initial visit to the Chronic Pain Clinic, we will email you a link to WeCope. This secure, confidential tool will allow you to share information with our clinic’s staff before your first visit. WeCope will include the date of your appointment, location, directions, and information about hotel accommodations if you are traveling from out of town. It will also list the providers you should expect to see on the day of your evaluation. You will receive a second link with some additional questionnaires to complete closer to the day of your appointment.
Because your initial visit includes a very in-depth evaluation, it is extremely important that we are able to review your medical records from other providers. This allows us to make your evaluation as complete and successful as possible. Please have all prior medical records faxed in advance of your appointment. Our fax number is 617-730-0199.
If you have questions before your initial visit, please call the clinic at 617-355-7040.
在您访问期间
Your initial Chronic Pain Clinic appointment will be a multidisciplinary evaluation with a physician, psychologist, and sometimes a physical therapist. It is an in-depth evaluation that lasts for about four to five hours. You should arrive at 8 a.m. and can expect to leave around 12:30 or 1 p.m.
物理治疗师可以与疼痛医生同时评估您。医师和物理治疗师在您访问期间共同努力，以最好地了解您的痛苦以及我们如何为您提供帮助。物理治疗师将进行体格检查，其中可能包括评估您的肌肉力量，协调，运动范围以及移动和功能的能力。物理治疗师将与您的护理团队合作，提出建议以优化您的身体功能。建议是个性化的，但总的来说，有证据表明，积极参与和自我管理方法最适合持续疼痛的患者。
Our physical therapist may recommend:
- activities that focus on regaining function in self-care and leisure activities
- 增加对触摸和其他感觉的容忍度
- increasing flexibility, strength, coordination, and endurance
You will also see a pediatric pain psychologist as part of your visit. These psychologists are experts in pain management who help children and families develop skills for coping with pain. Meeting with a pain psychologist does不是mean that we think the pain is “all in your head.”
A variety of approaches, such as relaxation, mindfulness, and cognitive processing techniques, are highly effective in decreasing pain through retraining the brain and learning how to regulate your body’s reactions. Psychologists often also work with children and families to help them increase functioning (for example, going to school, interacting with peers, doing the things you used to do before the pain developed). They can also address the emotional impact of pain and feelings such as worry, sadness, or frustration that often accompany chronic pain. In your first visit to our pain clinic, the psychologist will take time to understand how any of these factors play a role in your pain experience and identify brain-based treatment approaches that can be a useful part of your pain treatment plan.
After your visit
如果您在初次约会后有临床问题，则可以通过617-355-8930与慢性疼痛护士联系。要安排其他约会或其他行政问题，请致电617-355-7040。
Please note that we require five days’ advance notice of a medication refill.
Transitional Pain Clinic
我们还看到患者患有慢性疼痛或治疗术后疼痛不良并且需要手术的患者。在这种创新的方法中，慢性疼痛诊所提供者将在手术前看到您的孩子，并有助于与外科医生，麻醉师和我们的外科医生制定个性化的围手术治疗计划Inpatient Pain Service团队。在许多情况下，我们将继续术后看到您的孩子，以帮助管理他们的疼痛和止痛药。