What does COVID-19 mean for the Pain Management Program? This guide includes resources to help you to self-manage your pain. Learn more about the following during COVID-19: • How to access services in the pain program • Our approach to treating chronic pain • Accessing food • Strategies to manage self-isolation • Living with worry • Mental health information and supports • Crisis prevention •Exercising with chronic pain • Medication information

A booklet for people who are considering quitting or drinking less alcohol

This is a handout to explain how Amitriptyline treats pain by increasing the concentrations of chemical messengers in the nervous system to reduce the pain messages arriving in the brain. The pain is usually described as burning, tingling, shooting, or numb. This medication can be used to treat fibromyalgia and prevent migraine headaches.

A booklet for people who take a benzodiazepine regularly for anxiety

A booklet for people taking opioids for chronic pain.

A booklet for people thinking about starting medical cannabis.

This is a fact sheet for patients about the SSRI Citalopram (Celexa) that explains what the drug is, how it works, how it should be taken and what precautions apply to this drug. Citalopram is used to treat a wide range of mental health conditions, including unipolar depression (low mood), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders.

This is a handout explaining that Duloxetine is a medication that works by increasing the brain levels of two chemical messengers, norepinephrine and serotonin, that help to lessen the intensity of incoming pain signals. It is used to treat pain from damaged nerves, fibromyalgia, chronic low back pain, and knee pain due to osteoarthritis. Duloxetine is also used to treat depression and anxiety.

This is a handout explaining what an epidural steroid injection (ESI) is and why is it performed?

This is a fact sheet for patients about the SSRI Escitalopram (Cipralex) that explains what the drug is, how it works, how it should be taken and what precautions apply to this drug. Escitalopram is used to treat a wide range of mental health conditions, including unipolar depression (low mood), generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This is a handout to explain that a facet join injection can be used to help diagnose the cause and location of pain or to treat pain related to facet joint dysfunction. Facet joint injections can be performed in the neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic), or lower back (lumbar). The exact location at which the procedure is performed at depends on where your pain is coming from. It involves the administration of a local anesthetic (when done as a diagnostic procedure) or a mixture of local anesthetic and an anti-inflammatory medication known as a steroid (when done for treatment purposes).