Addiction Medicine

Addiction is a chronic relapsing/remitting brain disease that is characterized by a compulsive drive to use despite serious adverse consequences, loss of control and the emergence of a negative emotional state during abstinence (source: Volkow and Koob). Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.

In addition to the comprehensive approaches of various medical care team members, there are a number of medications that can help diminish the unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal and/or craving for alcohol, tobacco, opioids and other substances. Furthermore, as with other chronic disease states like diabetes, treatment requires frequent follow-up.

If you have a primary care provider, talk to them about your concerns and about screening information. Your provider can provide a referral to the addiction medicine clinic. A referral is beneficial but not necessary. If you don’t have a primary care provider, call the clinic at 457-4180 for more information.

No, they are very distinct scopes of medicine. Addiction medicine works to improve the functionality of life by reducing or eliminating the use of harmful substances. Pain medicine focuses on improving function by reducing or eliminating pain. Pain is a board-eligible sub-specialty with physicians from anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation and neurology.

These physicians have special training in evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of all different types of pain (acute, chronic, cancer, etc.) In relation to addiction, the overlap usually occurs secondary to one of the treatment modalities for pain: opioids. Opioids are used appropriately and inappropriately by the medical community for the management of pain. Individuals using opioids (such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine) are vulnerable to become not only dependent but also addicted to these substances at which point addiction medicine may help.

Every branch of medicine overlaps with others. An individual being treated for a diabetic foot ulcer may have an endocrinologist, family medicine provider, vascular surgeon, podiatrist and more all treating them. Similarly, a patient with acute or chronic pain may be addicted to any number of substances, but the approach and management between addiction and pain medicine specialists may be very different.

Yes and no. Dr. Moore is double board-certified in family medicine and addiction medicine. As such, he will seek to alleviate acute and chronic pain for his family medicine patients when needed. He will treat pain with a wide variety of approaches including physical therapy, massage therapy, osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT), analgesic medication (although very rarely opioids), braces/supports, mindfulness techniques, referral to sub-specialists and more. However, Dr. Moore does not treat chronic pain in the addiction clinic. Primary pain concerns will be re-directed to primary providers in most cases.