No matter what kind of illness or health risk you are facing, it is imperative that you find the right medical provider. With an expert, you will not have to worry about your illness or the course of action required to fix the problem. In many cases, primary care doctors can help in the start. However, when the discomfort becomes persistent, it needs special care. This is even more true in cases where patients need a specific course of action consisting of various treatments to deal with the problem. For people looking for the best pain management doctor near me in Rockville, it might be a good choice to go for a double board-certified physician.
What Does Double Board-Certification Mean?
Having a board certification is important for any doctor in the medical world. Not only does it allow the doctors to practice legally, but it also shows that they are experts in their field. To become a board-certified doctor is not easy. The individual needs to undergo a lot of training and take various exams to test their knowledge. A board certification shows that the doctor is a specialist in their field and knows what they are doing.
A double board certification is more prestigious as they have earned certifications in two different medical specialties. However, both these specialties are complementary to each other. For example, you can find double board-certified doctors certified in pain management and anesthesiology or rehabilitation and physical medicine. Doing so requires a lot of hard work and allows the doctor to utilize their knowledge’s sheer breadth and depth to help their patient.
A Comprehensive Approach to Pain Management
One of the biggest advantages of a double-board-certified physician is that they often take a more holistic approach. So, if you are dealing with a persistent back problem and are looking for pain and spine specialists in Maryland, you will want someone who can not only help you manage the pain through medications and procedures but also consider the different aspects of the spine’s health. With this understanding, the physician can create a treatment plan that treats the symptoms and tries to address the underlying cause of pain.
Some double-board-certified physicians train for years while focusing on the relationship between nerves, muscles, and bones. Knowing how each part of the body affects the other can be very helpful when treating conditions like arthritis, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, or a herniated disc.
Advanced Diagnostic Techniques
Undoubtedly, a physician who has completed more than one board certification has had a lot of exposure to advanced diagnostic methods. Therefore, they might be more comfortable using imaging guidance for procedures, ordering appropriate imaging like MRIs, or tests like EMGs/nerve condition studies, and more to find the exact origin of the pain. With such an approach, the physician takes out all the guesswork from the diagnosis and ensures that be it a radiofrequency ablation or an epidural steroid injection, everything should be based on the understanding of the spinal segments, joints, and nerves. This can lead to fewer side effects and better outcomes in general.
Access to Cutting-Edge Treatments
If you search for a pain management doctor near me in Maryland, you will find many options. However, not all practitioners have access to the latest treatments. Double-board-certified physicians, on the other hand, continue with their pursuit of education and stay well acquainted with the latest therapies and treatments. With their double expertise, they can evaluate treatments and recommend the ones that will be better for their patients.
Better Coordination of Care
Chronic pain can become more than just a health problem when it starts to interfere with the patient’s mobility and overall quality of life. When this happens, your physician might have to talk to experts from other fields, such as neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons or neurologists. A double board-certified physician will be more suited to communicate with other physicians as they have honed their skills in two areas. Such physicians understand that pain management is only part of the solution, and to fix the underlying cause, they will have to take a broader picture.
Finding the Right Specialist for You
If you are in Maryland and are searching for a pain management specialist in Maryland, you should look for physicians who list their board certifications. You should make sure that these certifications are current, as certification boards in the United States require periodic recertifications, ensuring that the physicians remain up to date with the latest treatments and techniques.