Work Rehabilitation

Pain has wide-ranging effects on physical function, emotional well-being, and the ability to fulfill social roles. When pain affects patients’ ability to work, restoring patients to their optimal function may require more than healing of the initial injury. Although a pain physician may not be managing a patient’s work rehabilitation, understanding the importance of multidisciplinary treatment and rehabilitation optimizes comprehensive and integrated treatment. Patients who are unable to work often become involved with disability or the workers’ compensation system. A pain physician should have an appreciation of medicolegal aspects of work rehabilitation because these issues can affect the treatment, and such understanding can help the physician advocate more effectively for patients in this system.