The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 51.6 million Americans suffer from some kind of chronic pain.

Not only does chronic pain affect the body, it also affects mental health, causing anxiety and depression.

In order to address the growing need for chronic pain treatment, Intermountain Health has expanded two comprehensive pain management clinics in Provo and Layton.

The Utah County pain management clinic is located in the Sorenson Legacy Tower on the campus of Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital, 1034 N. 500 West in Provo. All services are located on one floor.

The Chronic Pain Medicine Layton Clinic is in a stand-alone location at 2075 University Park Blvd. The goal is to address the root causes of pain and optimize treatment to enhance the overall well-being of patients for lasting relief, improved quality of life and increased function.

The clinics are designed to improve access to specialized physical medicine rehabilitation, neurologists, physical therapists and behavioral health therapists.

“Our goal is to work as a team with the patient at our center of attention so patients leave our clinics looking forward to life and not another appointment,” said Chris Gappmayer, executive director for the Intermountain Health Medical Group. “If you think about your families, almost all of us have either a need for these specialties or know someone who has. These specialties are definitely needed in our communities.”

The clinics have added more procedures suited for fluoroscopy guided injections, a minimally invasive procedure that uses a fluoroscope to guide a needle into a joint to deliver medication or draw joint fluid. Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique that uses X-rays to create real-time video of the inside of the body.

“Having fluoroscopy and skilled radiology technicians on our floor gives us the opportunity to provide advanced spinal injection procedures to our patients right here within the new clinic space,” Gappmayer said.

In the new physical therapy rooms, therapists will provide specialized care so patients can do more with less discomfort through chronic pain management. It will include recovery, strength-building post-injury or surgery, as well as pelvic floor therapy for pelvic pain, incontinence and other pelvic health concerns.

The neurological space, located at the Provo clinic, will allow for more opportunities for neurological evaluations, cognitive assessments and procedures such as Botox, electromyography, a test used to detect neuromuscular abnormalities, and vagus nerve stimulation programming, which delivers pulses or stimulation at regular intervals to the brain.

The Provo clinic will also provide treatment for transient ischemic attacks, also known as mini strokes, identify the patient’s risk and begin immediate treatment.

“The guiding principle of our pain clinics has always been compassionate, collaborative care for all. For especially complex patients, a team-based approach is used to target pain in a multifaceted way that includes rehabilitative, psychological, interventional and pharmacological strategies,” said Karen Harward, senior practice manager at Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital’s Pain Management Clinic.

Chronic pain is defined as pain that sticks around for longer than three months, according to Intermountain Health. The pain can be persistent, causing limited mobility, lack of energy, muscle fatigue or tightness, appetite changes and depression, anger and anxiety.

In fact, chronic pain sufferers are four times more likely to suffer from anxiety or depression, and women are 21.7% more likely to experience chronic pain. While opioids can help manage some conditions, they also come with serious risks and side effects, including addiction and overdose.

“Treatment for pain over the last several years has really changed,” said Kim Compagni, assistant vice president for pain management services at Intermountain Health. “Twenty years ago, opioids were the focus on treating pain management. There was a strong focus on opioids and making sure patients didn’t have any pain.”

Compagni said over time health care workers have learned the risks and problems from opioids so they have tried to eliminate the use or reduce the number of opioids that are given to patients.

“A few of the things we have done is, first of all, we looked at the number of tablets that were being prescribed when a patient came in for pain,” she said. “We found that we were many times giving the patients more prescription tablets than what was needed.”

Opioids are also not all created equal, said Compagni.

“We’re really excited about the results. We’ve decreased opioid prescriptions by over 50%,” she said. “We’ve also decreased the number of tablets that have been prescribed and that are out into our communities by over 13 million tablets. So keeping our community safe is really important.”

The pain management team at Intermountain Health will aim to reduce the stigma associated with pain, improve access for pain management resources and improve the quality of life for people suffering from pain.

“Our hope is that these clinics give us enough space to continue to grow these service lines in a way we can continue to better serve the Utah and Davis County communities,” said Harward.