Treatments for Pain - Ivy en Rose Medical Spa

Wellness and recovery

May 24, 2026 · Dr. Andrew Vargas

Treatments for Pain

Pain is complex and deeply personal, so its treatment should never be one-size-fits-all. No two patients experience it the same way, which is why the best pain management plans are built around each person's own goals, lifestyle, and needs.

At Ivy en Rose, we want to help patients regain confidence, restore function, and return gradually to the activities and experiences that matter most to them.

Much of that work involves breaking the fear-avoidance cycle. When pain leads people to stop moving, or to avoid things they once enjoyed, body and mind can grow more sensitive over time. With safe, gradual exposure to movement and activity, many patients rebuild strength, confidence, and trust in their own bodies.

Movement-based therapies (physical therapy, yoga, Pilates) can matter a great deal in recovery. They strengthen the mind-body connection, improve mobility and stability, and sharpen your awareness of how your body moves and responds. Understanding your pain better also helps you communicate with your healthcare team, so we can shape a more targeted strategy together.

Pain is not only physical. It reaches into the brain, the emotions, stress levels, and mental well-being overall. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), particularly alongside exposure-based techniques and adaptive coping strategies, can help patients understand and manage what chronic pain does emotionally and psychologically. Fear tends to ease once you learn how the brain handles pain signals, and patients often feel more in charge of their own recovery.

Medication has a place too, used with care. Prescribed appropriately, it can bring inflammation down, settle irritated nerves, help you sleep, or make rehabilitation and movement easier to tolerate. The aim is not simply to "cover up" pain or bring down a number on a scale. Rather, medications and injections can open a window of opportunity, so patients can take part more comfortably in the therapies and activities that support long-term recovery.

Interventional procedures can play an important part in both diagnosing and treating pain. They place medication directly at the suspected source, which helps us understand where the symptoms originate while delivering targeted relief. For many patients an injection is not a "cure" but a tool, one that frees them to concentrate on rehabilitation, movement, and rebuilding function.

Pain management should not end in dependence on a pill, an injection, or any passive treatment. What we are after, over time, is a patient who is stronger, more capable, less reliant on us, and more fully engaged in their own life, so that when a temporary treatment wears off, they stand in a better place, physically and emotionally, than where they began.

Above all, we want our patients to hold onto three things: healing is possible, progress comes slowly, and nobody has to face it alone.

A wide range of medications can help manage pain. Some are available over the counter: acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, topical lidocaine, and topical anti-inflammatories such as diclofenac. On the prescription side, drugs first developed to treat depression, seizures, nerve disorders, Alzheimer's, and blood pressure conditions can also help regulate the way the nervous system processes pain.

Medications can play a valuable supporting role, but they have limits. Once one enters the bloodstream it acts on the whole body, not only the painful area, so alongside the intended benefit there can be unwanted side effects. At Ivy en Rose we believe medication should be used thoughtfully and safely, as one part of a comprehensive treatment plan rather than the whole of it.

For that reason, our practice does not offer opioid management or prescribing.

Many patients who come to us have carried pain for years, and arrive frustrated, exhausted, or discouraged after trying treatment after treatment. Our decision not to prescribe opioids is not a way of dismissing anyone's pain. It comes instead from a deep commitment to care that puts long-term function, safety, and quality of life first.

Opioids may sometimes give temporary short-term relief, and they also carry serious risk. The list of side effects runs from nausea, constipation, sedation, dizziness, and impaired thinking to slowed breathing, physical dependence, interactions with other medications, car crashes, falls, and overdose. Over time they may also contribute to worsening mood, hormonal changes, lower energy, heightened sensitivity to pain, and a reduced ability to take part fully in daily life.

For many chronic pain conditions, the research shows that opioid therapy taken over the long term often fails to improve function or activity levels when compared with safer, more restorative approaches. Some studies also report that staying on opioids chronically may carry higher overall health risks, and a greater risk of death from any cause, than non-opioid strategies do.

So our focus is comprehensive, evidence-based care for pain, built to help patients move more freely, function better, and reclaim what matters most to them. A treatment plan may include:

Movement therapies and physical rehabilitation
Wellness and lifestyle strategies
Interventional procedures where they are appropriate
Non-opioid medications, carefully chosen
Education and support, to build a clearer understanding of pain and recovery

Our aim is not merely to lower pain for a while. It is to help patients regain independence, confidence, and quality of life, safely and sustainably.

Healing rarely comes down to a single pill or a single procedure. It unfolds as a process, and our team is alongside you for it.

If pain has been keeping you from the life you want, we invite you to book an appointment with Ivy en Rose.

Deyo RA, Von Korff M, Duhrkoop D. BMJ. 2015 Jan 5;350:g6380. doi:10.1136/bmj.g6380.

References:

Opioids for low back pain.

Tölle T, Fitzcharles MA, Häuser W. Eur J Pain. 2021 Jul;25(6):1195-1208. doi:10.1002/ejp.1742.

Is opioid therapy for chronic non-cancer pain associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality compared to non-opioid analgesics? A systematic review of propensity score matched observational studies.