Over the past several years, the treatment of pain has evolved into a specialty called pain management. In the past three years, the pain clinic at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital has undergone its own evolution.

In 2007, Moore Regional's pain program moved to renovated space in the Specialty Centers Building at Memorial Drive and Page Road in Pinehurst. Shortly afterward, it adopted a new name: the FirstHealth Back & Neck Pain Center.

"This reflects our focus on the most common areas for pain, though we still treat a wide variety of pain issues," says Tracy Millen, R.N., supervisor of the Back & Neck Pain Center.

Back and neck pain can have many causes, and some of them are often difficult to diagnose and treat. It sometimes takes a combination of therapies to stop or reduce severe, persistent pain and keep it under control.

In the FirstHealth Back & Neck Pain Center, pain sufferers have one place they can go for a thorough evaluation of their problem as well as access to today's complete range of pain relief options, including the newest and most advanced treatments.

"There are so many causes of pain and so many ways to treat it that patients often simply don't know where to go," says Paul J. Kuzma, M.D., the -center's medical director. "We become the patients' entry point for care, helping them understand how and where to get relief."

Each of the center's eight board-certified physicians is specially trained and experienced in pain management, and all are associated with Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates. In addition to Dr. Kuzma, they are Steven Karan, M.D.; Lawrence Place, M.D.; Jacland ReVille, M.D.; Brian Thwaites, M.D.; James Winkley, M.D.; Matthew Oldroyd, M.D.; and Robert Oldroyd, M.D.

The center's nursing staff is also specially trained in a wide variety of pain management techniques.

"We start with the least -invasive therapies, such as -simple exercises and stretches," says Dr. Kuzma. "As necessary, we graduate to more aggressive approaches, including medications and even surgery."

For patients who need to see different medical specialists or therapists for their pain, the Back & Neck Pain Center serves as a central point of contact and coordination, providing assurance that someone is looking out for them and keeping them from getting lost in the shuffle.

Depending on the cause and severity of a patient's pain, the physicians of the Back & Neck Pain Center can provide:

n Prescription medications

n Steroid injections

n Pain medication injections to muscles, joints and "trigger points" (small knots that -develop in muscles when they are injured or overused)

n Selective nerve root blocks

n Neurostimulation (mild electrical impulses to the spinal cord that block the transmission of pain signals)

n Radio-frequency interruption of nerve connections in joints between the spinal -vertebrae

n Electrothermal therapy, which uses heat to destroy pain receptors in the nerves of spinal discs

Back & Neck Pain Center physicians also refer patients with chronic pain for:

n Neurological evaluation

n Surgical evaluation

n Physical therapy

n Chiropractic therapy

n Psychological/behavioral therapy

n Biofeedback

n Orthotic and prosthetic evaluation

n Massage therapy

n Acupuncture

n Relaxation therapy

n Dietary counseling

"The goal of the Back & Neck Pain Center is to stop chronic, debilitating pain or reduce it to the greatest extent possible so that patients can get on with their lives," Dr. Kuzma says.

The FirstHealth Back & Neck Pain Center is located in the Specialty Centers Building on the campus of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital. For more information, call (800) 213-3284.