Conservative Treatments Frequently Used for Chronic Pain Patients in Clinical Practice: A Literature Review

Abstract

Chronic pain is a common patient complaint in clinical practice. It results in the deterioration of patients' quality of life and loss of productivity. Also, it often brings about psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, clinicians should manage chronic pain actively. Various conservative treatments, including pharmacological therapy, procedures, and exercise, are being used to control chronic pain. In this review article, I provide an overview of the commonly used treatments, including medication [anticonvulsants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids, antidepressants], procedures [injection of steroids and local anesthetics, pulsed radiofrequency (PRF), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), prolotherapy], and exercise. A brief overview of these treatments would allow clinicians to have an overall picture of the available tools for managing chronic pain in clinical practice at a glance.