Pacifica Pain Management Services, Inc.

Why Our Pain Treatment Methods are Effective

Contact us for your pain management questions & concerns

You have an injury or an accident. The pain is acute.
With rest and time, you heal.

But what happens if your pain becomes chronic?

Conventional medical pain management promises pain relief but the quest for a complete pain cure is both costly and dangerous. Typical treatment for chronic pain includes:

• frequent doctor visits on an out-patient basis
• One narcotic pain prescription after another
• Injections of local anesthetics into various painful areas where nerves gather
• Implantable pumps for delivering narcotics or implanted electrical stimulators
• Surgical “corrections” to release nerves or disable sensation carrying nerves

Unfortunately, these efforts can have significant and dangerous side-effects, including:

• Addiction
• Depression
• Isolation and misunderstanding
• Sexual dysfunction
• Painful scar-tissue formation
• Infection, worsening of pain
• Helplessness
• Muscle wasting

Returning to a normal functioning life seems practically impossible as you become trapped in a chronic pain syndrome. A “syndrome” is defined as a constellation of symptoms that together indicate the presence of disease or abnormal condition.

At Pacifica our approach does not involve dangerous interventions. For over 25 years Pacifica and St. Helena Hospital have worked together to provide intensive treatment of complex pain syndromes in a medically supervised in-patient and non-medical out-patient residential setting. Our program has many therapists working together to develop an individualized program of care for each patient.  

Since it is unlikely that medical science can “cure” most chronic pain problems, our treatments are aimed at providing pain sufferers with safe and effective, non-narcotic treatments that may facilitate the body's normal healing process. These include:

• With chronic pain, the danger of wrong treatment is that it can result in the progression and worsening of the pain syndrome. The depth of our program is unmatched in Northern California.

  Detoxification
• Medical stabilization in a safe and secluded environment
• Correct medications
• Focus on learning active coping skills
• Daily exercise supervised by trained professionals
• Daily individual psychotherapy
• Chemical dependency counseling
• Stress management and biofeedback therapy
• Daily aquatic therapy
• Mindfulness-based pain management
• Family therapy and family support education
• Massage therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Organically prepared meals

Our focus is on adaptation to pain rather than escape from pain. The role of the doctor, hospital, and of medication is slowly replaced by sound judgment, confidence, and balance in using new and old techniques to manage the pain experience effectively and with less disability.

Our program is effective because:

• Patients are away from their usual environment allowing a total focus on getting healthy.
• Patients receive complete round-the-clock management in a serene and supervised environment.
• We teach active coping skills and self-management to reduce passive reliance on medications while increasing functional restoration and physical rehabilitation.
• Patients are slowly reintroduced to their home environments through weekend visits home.
• Out-patient treatment continues for one full year

Patients nearly always feel better with the Pacifica approach and typically report less pain without dependence on narcotic pain medications. We encourage patients to work toward discovering small positive effects and use them frequently rather than looking for one complete answer or “magic bullet” that stops pain altogether.

Remember, pain is a normal part of life.  Suffering from chronic pain syndrome is not.  Talk with your family, your doctor, your adjustor, or your attorney.  Let us help you reclaim the best part of your life.