Pain Management at NWRTW
We take Pain Management seriously at Northwest Return To Work (NWRTW). The Structured Intensive Multidisciplinary Pain Program (SIMP) at Northwest Return to Work (NWRTW) utilizes outpatient treatment that is integrated, comprehensive, and evidence-based to help workers with non-malignant chronic pain.
The goal of the program is to teach clients how to cultivate self-awareness and find strategies to improve their psychological well-being by learning effective self-management techniques.
“When dysfunction is cured naturally, pain management or release will come,” explains Dr. Marissa Boyd, a Naturopathic physician who is a member of our Occupational Medicine Providers. “If your pain is from a broken bone the pain will decrease over time as the bone heals, but not all injuries are like that. Some people may have to deal with pain for extended periods of time. Anyone who has experienced pain can explain that the pain affects you both physically and emotionally. Chronic pain is real. It is powerful. It can change your immune system; affect how you sleep and disrupt relationships. Pain can completely restructure someone’s life.”
The SIMP Program at NWRTW is available to any injured worker who has experienced chronic pain and is experiencing that pain as a barrier to returning to their work and life.
L&I can be a limited system, but the SIMP program is one of the most holistic treatment programs L&I can offer to the injured worker. Contributing to the care of those participating in a SIMP program allows a personalized and intimate approach to pain management. Providers teach techniques for patients to circumvent pain. But first, we must acknowledge the pain is real. Many doctors in the L&I system don’t do this because L&I does not treat pain or consider pain a diagnosable condition.
We take pain recovery very seriously at NWRTW.
Alternative pain management tools physicians use chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, meditation, and craniosacral therapies. The most effective pain management tool is movement. Our program cultivates daily movement in our participants. There are some things in this world we can change and many we cannot. Even if the pain doesn’t change, changing the way you look at and approach the pain, changes the pain.
We recommend regular, daily physical activity; yoga, walking, hiking, getting fresh air, and exploring the world that life has to offer. Many people feel trapped by their injuries. But increasing blood flow, stretching, and breath work literally flushes your body’s inflammatory process. It breaks the cycle of pain.
At NWRTW we can give patients so much more than the restoration of their physical function. The providers do not claim, “we are here to take away your pain.” Instead, they say, “we are here to help you live your life despite your pain.”
NWRTW has one of the only structured, intensive, multi-disciplinary programs in the state of Washington for treating chronic pain.
We utilize Psychologists for psychological treatments, physical and occupational therapists for physical treatments, vocational counselors to make sure barriers to recovery are eliminated, medical doctors to oversee the program and provide information, and occupational medicine for supplements, homeopathic medicine, and pain management treatments and techniques for managing pain.
If you or someone you know is suffering from pain due to a work injury, it’s time to contact NWRTW.