Pain medicine has grown beyond just prescribing pills. Dr. Vasanth Kattalai Kailasam, specialist at Mercy Health, Illinois, says pain care is now a fine art and science. It aims to understand and manage pain fully, not just relieve it. Pain is complex, affected by many factors beyond simple pain scores. According to the International Association for Study of Pain, pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience linked to tissue damage or potential damage. Pain comes in two main types. Acute pain from surgery or injury is often easier to measure and treat. Chronic pain lasts over three months and involves biological, psychological, and social factors. Dr. Kailasam notes that "even a good day or a bad day can change how a patient feels pain." Chronic cases require a "biopsychosocial assessment" to understand pain's full impact, looking at emotions, life situations, and daily function. The roots of modern pain medicine trace back to John Joseph Bonica, who started the first multidisciplinary pain clinic in the 1950s. His team approach included neurology, psychology, physical therapy, and rehab. This model is still key to comprehensive pain care. Interventional pain management uses image-guided methods like epidural injections, nerve blocks, and radiofrequency ablations. Newer treatments include neuromodulation therapies such as spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation. These use electrical currents to block pain signals and restore function. Implantable devices now help doctors monitor patients remotely over time. On the opioid crisis, Dr. Kailasam warns that easy access and overprescription in the 1990s caused widespread addiction and illegal fentanyl use. He states, "We tried to manage one problem and created another." He says opioids should be limited to acute or cancer pain. "For chronic, non-cancer pain, we rarely recommend opioids—they don’t improve long-term functioning and can be counterproductive." Instead, he promotes multimodal care combining non-opioid drugs, physiotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and lifestyle changes. He also cautions against overusing over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen. "Every time you use a Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug (NSAID), you’re actually trading your kidney for freedom from pain," he warns, noting risks of kidney damage and high blood pressure. Dr. Kailasam concludes, "The goal today is not simply to eliminate pain but to improve life quality. We call ourselves pain management specialists for a reason. We would like to fix the problem, but even when we can’t fix the source, we can help patients live better with it."