If you are a victim of chronic pain, you've probably heard of the field of pain management. Pain management is exactly what it says; a field of medicine that concentrates on alleviating pain and helping its victims live with it. Pain can arise in different ways, so pain management doctors treat everything from neuropathic pain to post-operative pain.

No globally-recognized set of standards exist for pain management, so pain management therapies can vary by clinic. Normally, though, a pain management team has at least three doctors. The coordinating doctor discusses the patient's conditions with other specialists, and makes sure they are aware of the others' therapies. The specialist in physical rehabilitation helps the patient with prescribed physical activities. Then there is the psychiatrist, who helps the patient with the anxiety and depression that often accompany chronic pain, and ensures the patient is mentally healthy and happy.

Patients can select one of three general types of pain management therapies: non-drug pain management, drug pain management, and invasive pain management. While chronic pain patients are given options, the recommendation a doctor will make depends on the patient's unique medical needs and condition.

Non-drug pain management uses alternatives to medication, including yoga, acupuncture, meditation, and counseling. It works from a psychological perspective, where patients can lessen their pain to some extent by understanding it and learning pain reduction techniques.

Drug pain management involves prescribing medications for pain. Usually, four types of medication may be used. Anti-inflammatory drugs relieve pain at the source, but do not work for all pain. Opioids work by acting on the parts of the brain that feel pain. Antidepressants treat psychological symptoms and may help with neuropathic pain. Finally, the most controversial option, medical marijuana, controls pain through indirect pathways and dulls its sensation.

Invasive pain management use surgeries, like disc replacement and spine therapies, as well as injections, like steroids and nerve blocks, to control pain. They cause some short term pain, but reduce it in the long run after healing from the procedures.

Remember that each approach to pain management works best for different patients and conditions, and what works for one person with chronic pain may not work for everyone.