Pain Management Assistance For Suffering Veterans

Leaving the military is the beginning of a new adventure in life, but it isn't always easy. Although it marks a departure from the difficult, sometimes dangerous and often taxing days of military service, you lose a lot of services that the military could deliver as soon as you walk into a medical facility. Whether you're a veteran without disability benefits or a disabled veteran looking for civilian care, take the time to understand your situation and ways that the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) can help you with pain management assistance outside of VA facilities.

For Veterans Without Disability Benefits

Many veterans are either working on getting disability benefits approved or don't know that they may be eligible for benefits. No matter the situation, if you're without VA benefits and could use some financial help when it comes to medical assistance, there are a few things that the VA can do for you.

First, consult a pain management professional and explain your situation. Tell the professional that you are a veteran suffering because of specific pain problems and that you'd like to know if there are any programs or offers available for veterans specifically.

Even if there aren't any specific assistance programs available from pain management specialists, the source of your pain could create a way to get benefits from the VA. If you suffered injuries during the military or have other conditions leading to pain, you simply need to prove that your condition is service-connected.

A service-connected condition is any condition that was caused by military service or made worse through military service. Ask the pain management specialist to perform a cursory examination of your pain that includes possible causes and the likelihood that the pain was caused by military service. This examination can be used as evidence for a VA injury claim.

For Pending Claims And Disabled Veterans

With evidence from the pain management specialist, you can return to the VA for a compensation and pension (C&P) examination. The exam searches your injury claim while performing a VA-managed examination.

The VA can even give you basic medication and pain therapy assistance while you wait for a decision. The type of medical benefits assistance you can receive is based on multiple factors such as your discharge type (honorable, other-than-honorable, medical, dishonorable, etc.), the amount of time you've been out of the military and career events such as being a Prisoner of War (POW).

An honorable discharge generally grands the basic tier of medical assistance, which can grant a bit of financial assistance when it comes to referrals to pain management specialists. You must get authorization from the VA first, which involves paperwork that must be filled out by the pain management specialist's team.

If you're already approved for VA benefits, the referral process is easier. Simply give the VA the information of the pain management specialist you'd prefer to work with and allow them to handle the paperwork for you.

Contact a pain management office, such as Potter's House Apothecary, Inc, to discuss your situation and to find out ways to get help as soon as possible; at least before the pain becomes needlessly worse.

Share