UC HEALTH LINE: First Comprehensive Pain Center Opening in the Tristate

CINCINNATI—More than 76 million Americans experience a condition that costs $100 billion a year in health care expenses, lost income and productivity.

It’s one that can be difficult to treat because it’s subjective, and treatments that work for one person may not work for another.

The condition, chronic pain, affects more Americans than heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined.

“Severe chronic pain affects every aspect of a person’s life,” says the Harvard-trained Hamman Akbik, MD, assistant professor and director of pain management services at the University of Cincinnati. “It can be debilitating for people and make everyday living like running errands and chores around the home a challenge, if not impossible.”

There are various treatments for pain—from medical management and physical therapy to injection and even psychological therapy. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of treating chronic pain, the University Pointe Pain Management Center is expanding to offer all these services in one location.

The pain center, currently located in the main medical office building at University Pointe in West Chester, is moving into its own office on the University Pointe campus, where Akbik and his colleague Muhammad Munir, MD, will begin seeing patients at its new location (

“This larger space allows us to practice multidisciplinary pain management in state-of-the-art suites,” says Akbik. “Some patients may even be evaluated and receive a procedure the same day, resulting in less time off work.”

In addition, patients who require physical therapy and counseling as part of their pain management treatment plan no longer have to visit specialists at another location—it’s all available at the comprehensive pain center.

“Our goal is to reduce our patients’ pain, improve the quality of their life and increase their activity level.

“Treatments are tailored to the individual, because an approach that works for one patient may not work for another, and we can now offer these services to our patients in one location,” Akbik says.

For more information or to schedule an appointment at University Pointe Pain Management Center, call (513) 475-8282.