Carolinas Pain Institute

336-283-2273

FAQs

We look forward to your visit to our office and want to ensure that all of your questions and concerns are answered. Please contact us if you have additional inquiries that are note addressed below.

General Questions

From the time a patient’s completed referral form is received in our office, a physician review process begins. Once reviewed and if approved, the patient is contacted by a member of our staff to set up an appointment. This process can take up to 10 business days.

We require a referral from your primary referring physician because we are a referral-based office. This means that our physicians review your completed application and medical records to ensure that your needs can be adequately addressed by the services provided by Carolinas Pain Institute.

  • AETNA
  • BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD
  • CIGNA
  • CIGNA HEALTHSPRING
  • CHAMP VA
  • MEDICARE
  • MEDICAID OF NORTH CAROLINA
  • MEDICAID OF VIRGINIA
  • MEDCOST (EXCLUDING WAKE FOREST SELECT)
  • BLUE MEDICARE
  • RAILROAD MEDICARE
  • TRICARE/CHAMPUS
  • UNITED HEALTHCARE
  • US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
  • VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
  • ALL NORTH CAROLINA WORKMANS COMP

Carolinas Pain Institute is located at: 145 Kimel Park Drive, Suite 330 Winston–Salem, N.C. 27103

You may contact us by phone at 336-283-2273. Our fax is 336-283-2273.

330 Billingsley Road, Suite 210 Charlotte, NC 28211

704-325-2283

Medical Questions

Depending on the medication you were prescribed, it may take a few days or even weeks to notice an effect. If you have unpleasant symptoms, you may stop the medication and call your doctor.

Depending on the injection, it may take a full two weeks to notice any relief. You may have felt better immediately after the injection because of the use of numbing medicine, which wears off in eight to 12 hours. If you have had an ablation and are in pain, this is related to the procedure itself and ice packs and acetaminophen are the best options to help you through the procedural pain. The pain should go away in two to four weeks, and then you will be able to judge if the ablation procedure has brought you relief.

The decision to go to the emergency department can be a difficult one, particularly for patients suffering from chronic pain. Ultimately, the decision is yours. If you feel your symptoms require emergency care, then a trip to the emergency department is warranted. Below is a list of common reasons chronic pain patients may need to go to the emergency department;

  • New weakness in a part of your body
  • New difficulty controlling your bowels or bladder
  • Fever and chills after a procedure or surgery
  • Redness, warmth and swelling over a procedure or surgical site
  • Pain which is uncontrollable with conservative care and prescribed medicines
  • Reaction to a new medication, including swelling, difficulty breathing or rash on the face
  • Chest pain
  • Uncontrollable abdominal pain

This is not intended to be a complete list, but rather some of the most common questions we receive. This is specific to chronic pain and does not cover issues such as stroke, heart attack, falls and complex abdominal issues. If you feel you need emergency care, please call 911 immediately.

Controlled substances* will not be refilled through phone or email requests. Requests for a refill, new prescription, different drug or change in the dosage of an existing controlled substance will only be addressed during a scheduled in-office appointment. Patients must call 336-283-2273 to schedule an in-office appointment with their provider for “medication management.” During your in-office appointment, requests for medications that are controlled substances may be discussed in further detail.

If you think that you are experiencing a side effect from your controlled substance, stop taking the medication and call 336-283-2273 for further instruction. A replacement medication for your controlled substance will not be provided until you are evaluated during a designated in-office appointment for “medication management.” If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, please contact 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

*Examples of controlled substances include but are not limited to oxycodone, hydrocodone, buprenorphine, tramadol, tapentadol, fentanyl, dilaudid, clonazepam, alprazolam, lorazepam, diazepam, etc.

Because your medication regimen is vital to your daily health and comfort, we recommend that you always check the dates on your medications to prevent running out before your next scheduled visit. If you are at risk of running out before your next appointment, we recommend that you first call your pharmacy to see if you have refills available. If you do not, call Carolinas Pain Institute at 336-283-2273 early in the day and early in the week (if possible); speak to the front desk to reschedule your appointment for an earlier date. In these cases, we will make every effort to move your appointment date up if the discrepancy is caught soon enough.

It is important to note that medication refills cannot be done over the phone after hours or on the weekends.

Yes, there is a quick and convenient way to access your recent imaging results. You can view these results through your Novant Health MyChart page. This can be found here.

If you do not yet have a MyChart page, you can find step-by-step instructions on how to do so here.

Please note that if there are any medically urgent findings on your recent imaging, you will be notified by phone. If you view your results on MyChart and have questions, please save them for your next scheduled office visit. The physicians at Carolinas Pain Institute will be happy to review the results in detail with you at that time.