Treatment
• Your health care team will discuss all available treatment options
with you. These options include both prescription medications
and over the counter medications as well as nonpharmacologic
approaches such as meditation and behavioral therapy.
• Some patients might prefer to begin therapy with
nonpharmacologic approaches, while others prefer to begin with
prescription medications.
• Should you choose a pharmacologic approach, there are
medications that can be taken orally (e.g., pills/capsules) or
medications that can be applied directly to your skin in the areas
you are experiencing pain (e.g., topicals/creams) (see Table 1).
The goal of treatment is to reduce the frequency
and severity of your pain and improve your overall
quality of life.
Decision-making about treatment should be a joint
effort between you and your health care team after
discussing all available options.