Pain Management and Injury Relief Medical Center (PMIR), serving the greater Los Angeles area and Ventura County, is on a mission to ease people’s suffering and teach those burdened with chronic pain to manage it effectively.

Chronic pain is a complex disease affecting not just the nerves that register it, but the whole person. Physical pain often occurs in concert with emotional and psychological duress; scientifically verifiable side effects that impinge on patients’ quality of life almost as much as the pain itself. The chemicals released by a chronic pain patient’s brain are the same as those which control mood. Therefore, chronic pain sufferers often battle secondary conditions such as depression and anxiety in addition to the physical stress of their initial symptoms; they hurt on many levels for many physical and chemical reasons. The physicians of PMIR recognize these secondary conditions as ancillary but equally challenging manifestations of the complex disease we call pain. Thus, they may recommend evaluation by a psychologist or other complimentary therapist as part of their team approach to treating the whole patient and not just the pain which brought them to PMIR’s offices.

PMIR distinguishes itself by treating pain in all of its manifestations, be they physical or psycho-emotional in nature. Seeing Dr. Hersel, or one of his colleagues at PMIR gives clients access to a network of professionals practicing both Western and Alternative medicine with the common goal of relieving the multiple manifestations of pain. This comprehensive mode of treatment addresses the physical, emotional and psychological manifestations of pain. For more information regarding the psycho-emotional secondary conditions often associated with chronic pain please refer to The Journal of Neurosciene, 6 February 2008, 28(6): 1398-1403;doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4123-07.2008

The physicians and therapists at PMIR understand that your pain is real, even if other professionals you’ve likely consulted with before can’t find the cause. We take your pain seriously. An article from the March 2011 edition of Time Magazine about chronic pain said, “recognizing a disease is only a prelude to treating it.” Our medical understanding of pain is evolving and it is now recognized as a disease not just a symptom.

All individually designed patient protocols attack pain on multiple levels and may include a combination of any or all of the following: medication, interventional pain procedures and coordination with other health professionals such as physical therapists, psychologists, and acupuncturists. PMIR doctors partner with their patients and work together as a team to ensure an improved quality of life.

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