Understanding Physiatry & Pain Management with Dr. Swaroop Gonchikar

Have you ever heard of physiatry? No, not psychology or physical therapy, but physiatry. That’s pronounced FIZZ-eye-ah-tree. These medical doctors are specially trained to treat ongoing pain of the nerves, muscles, and bones using both surgical and non-surgical techniques. The main focus of physiatry is the patient’s function, independence, and quality of life.

On today’s episode, host Adam Walker talks to Dr. Swaroop Gonchikar. Dr. Gonchikar specializes in physical medicine & rehabilitation and in interventional spine and non-surgical orthopedics at the OrthoCarolina Spine Center. The discuss the basics of physiatry: what it is, when this type of medicine was started, and what type of pain it’s used to treat. They also dive into the details and get answers to these questions: What type of pain injections are there? How much do they hurt for the patient… really? And… How long does the pain relief last?