Treatments

Integrated Healing Program

When a teenager is suffering in pain, it is often necessary to take a comprehensive approach to treat their physical and emotional needs. Learn more about our program.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidenced based psycho-social intervention that helps to change thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to pain to improve quality of life and functioning.

• Building coping skills
• Addressing anxiety and/or depression that may accompany pain
• Development of a functional restoration plan

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a technique used to help decrease pain. Using sensors, you can prevent and reduce pain by learning to control body functions like breathing and muscle tension.

Stress management, relaxation and mindfulness training

We teach a variety of relaxation techniques to help promote comfort, reduce stress, and improve pain.

School consultation

We work with families and schools to address how pain impacts a child at school. We provide recommendations for schools to accommodate children with pain in order to maintain academic progress.

Life style management

Recommendations will be provided on eating and hydration habits, sleeping habits, and exercise to help in prevention and management of headaches.

Occupational and/or physical therapy

Children's Wisconsin's Physical and Occupational Therapy Department focuses on helping children who have been injured or who have a disability to function as independently as possible.
Our physical therapy and occupational therapy team works closely with medical staff to provide treatment for children from birth to adulthood. Our staff specializes in pediatrics and uses a family-centered approach to treatment.

Acupuncture

At Children's Wisconsin, our goal is to provide the best, most effective treatment to all of our patients.

Though traditional medicine, including medication, can go a long way toward managing pain, we believe there is value in alternative care as well. In order to provide comprehensive pain management to our patients, the Jane B. Pettit Pain Management Center offers acupuncture as a treatment option.

Our staff often encourages our patients' families to seek out natural health therapies to complement the pain treatments received at Children's Wisconsin. The pain center at Children's Wisconsin is unique in that it offers acupuncture for children, while many health spas and wellness centers do not.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is the use of electric current produced by a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes. A typical battery-operated TENS unit is able to modulate pulse width, frequency and intensity therapy that uses low-voltage electrical current for pain relief. You do TENS with a small, battery-powered machine about the size of a pocket radio. Usually, you connect four electrodes (wires that conduct electrical current) from the machine to your skin.

• Acetaminophen
• NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs)
• Opioid analgesics
• Migraine specific “triptans”
• Antidepressant PAIN preventers
• Antiseizure PAIN preventers
• Blood pressure PAIN preventers

This may in turn reduce pain, and other symptoms caused by inflammation or irritation of the nerves and surrounding structures. Some headaches over the back of the head including certain types of tension headaches and migraine headaches, may respond to occipital nerve blocks. Sometimes medication can be delivered through a tiny plastic tube (nerve catheter) placed next to the nerve which can last for several days. This can be used to treat chronic pain when drugs or other treatments do not control pain or cause bad side effects. All providers performing nerve blocks are trained in the technique.

TPI is a procedure used to treat painful areas of muscle that contain trigger points, or knots of muscle that form when muscles do not relax. Some injections are done with a mixture of local anesthetic and steroids. The local anesthetic will numb the area for 1 to 3 hours. The steroids remain in the tissue in active form for about one month.

May prevent headaches and migraines . It's given about every 12 weeks. It often takes 2 treatments 12 weeks apart, to determine if it is working for you. It's injected with a very small needle in many locations around the head, face and neck.  It takes about 15-30 minutes for each series of injections.