Your First Appointment at the Arnold-Warfield Pain Center

How To Prepare for Your Pain Management Appointment  

When you come to the Arnold-Warfield Pain Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) for care, we do all we can to start you on the path to pain relief.

Learn how to make the most of your first pain management appointment.

What To Bring 

To help your care team create the best treatment plan for you, please bring these items to your appointment:

• A list of medicines you take. This includes prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, vitamins, herbs and supplements. Write down the dose and how often you take each medicine. 
• Any imaging scans (CT, MRI or X-ray) you have that are related to your condition. 

Your pain specialist will review your medical records and discuss them with you.

What To Expect

We know how debilitating living in constant pain can be. It can help to know what happens at your first pain management visit.

When you visit the Pain Center, you will meet with a pain specialist for about an hour, taking these and other steps:

If the best next step for you is treatment at our pain center, your doctor will talk with you about how to proceed. If needed, your doctor may order these or other diagnostic tests: 

Your care team will use the test results to build the best treatment plan for you.

Be sure to ask your doctor any questions you have about your care plan. Together you can find the right steps to take toward a pain-free life.