Frequently Asked Questions

How would I work with Override as a patient?

There are 3 ways to work with Override:

1) Individual appointments with Override's pain physicians, pain psychologists, physical therapists, and/or coaches.

2) Sign up for the Comprehensive Pain Program to receive care from a multispecialty team of providers

3) Enroll in our Chronic Pain Management Coaching Program that is available in all 50 states.

What types of providers does Override use?

Override connects you with a care team that can include a pain physician, chronic-pain trained physical therapist, psychologist, and certified pain coach. Appointments are live, one-on-one, virtual sessions, and you’ll also be able to message your providers in between sessions .

How long is Override’s program?

Override offers a 12-week clinical protocol:

Month 1: Evaluation & begin your personalized pain plan

Month 2: Learn pain science & build your chronic pain toolbox

Month 3: Take control of your pain

Ongoing care as-needed: Continued care and maintenance as-needed

Some people are able to gain the tools they need to better manage chronic pain in just a few months. Others need longer. People don’t get into chronic pain overnight and they certainly don’t get out of it overnight.

Are Override's services covered by insurance?

We are currently in-network with select insurance plans in the states in which we are launched and are working to expand for broader coverage. You can see more information about our in-network coverage locations here.

Override is also HSA/FSA eligible, and we can work with you for out-of-network reimbursement.

We encourage you to call the member services phone number on the back of your insurance card to learn more about your specific out-of-network benefits and what your reimbursement may be. Once you begin care at Override, you can ask your team to prepare a medical invoice or “superbill” that details the information your insurance company needs to process your out-of-network claim. Afterward, you’ll need to submit the superbill to your insurance company and follow their specific claim process for reimbursement.

Reach out to us to see if your insurance plan may cover you, or how out-of-network reimbursement could work for your care.

‍Does Override prescribe medication?

Yes, Override pain physicians prescribe non-opioid medications and can offer convenient refills as-needed. We do not prescribe opioids but can help you taper off of them. By working with us, many patients start to replace opioids with evidence-based tools learned in our program.

We can prescribe Low Dose Naltrexone.

Why does Override use psychologists and coaches?

We know your pain is real. Sometimes doctors give up and say that pain is psychological when they can’t explain why they can’t get you better. It’s a cop-out, and it’s unfair. Modern science now has a more nuanced understanding of chronic pain as a central nervous system issue, not a psychological or psychosomatic one. 

Override addresses pain for what it is. Psychologists and coaches help you learn pain education and address learned pain behaviors and patterns – like pain catastrophizing (e.g., “I’m never getting better!”) – that research shows reinforce pain neural pathways and amplify pain. They also help you set emotional, physical, and social goals to chip away at pain’s hold on you.

What if I have a doctor, physical therapist, or therapist treating me?

Override can still work with you.

We are flexible and will only charge for the services that you need and aren’t getting elsewhere. We are also willing to communicate with your current provider, because we know that pain care works best when providers communicate.

Do you fill out disability paperwork?

Yes, we are able to complete disability paperwork for a small fee.

Is virtual care actually effective?

Yes. Many pain treatments involve interventions – injections, surgeries, etc. – but those often do more harm than good. Much of the care that chronic pain patients really need can be delivered virtually, especially the most important parts: pain neuroscience education and working on the functional and behavioral changes proven to override learned pain neural pathways. 

Even virtual physical therapy has been shown to be as effective as in person physical therapy. Additionally, most of our patients have already undergone in-person physical exams and imaging, so we don’t make patients repeat that.  When needed, Override providers can recommend who to see in person, as we continue to follow your care.

Most importantly, comprehensive chronic pain requires a comprehensive treatment approach. The stress of disrupting your life for various in-person appointments can be counterproductive to chronic pain recovery.

Do you offer Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?

Yes, we have pain specialists specifically trained to deliver Pain Reprocessing Therapy who are available in any state.

What causes chronic pain?

Finding the cause of your chronic pain is the first step to finding relief. Yet this first step is often elusive and not straightforward. Pain can be the result of injury, underlying medical conditions, genetic abnormalities, nervous system dysfunction, neurological problems, and much more. 

About 60% of people wait an average of 2.2 years between seeking help and getting an accurate diagnosis – largely because of a scarcity of pain specialists and a general misunderstanding of chronic pain. Override can help pinpoint the causes and contributors to your pain to help you tackle it.

How are acute and chronic pain different?

Acute pain becomes chronic after it has persisted for longer than three months. While previously thought of simply as a difference in duration, fMRI imaging shows that chronic and acute pain activate completely different parts of the brain. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain is housed in areas of the brain dedicated to emotional processing and memory, which is part of why we shouldn’t treat chronic pain as an entirely physical issue.

The mistake many pain treatments make is treating them the same. Override uses a chronic pain specific protocol rooted in modern pain neuroscience principles.

My pain still won’t go away. Why has nothing helped my pain so far?

Pain is usually treated as a body part problem. For example, if it’s your arm that hurts, the doctor will inject your arm and the physical therapist will work on strengthening your arm. What we know from pain neuroscience research, however, is that chronic pain gets ingrained in the nervous system and the brain. We have to learn tools and strategies to calm the nervous system and retrain the brain in order to start making progress on the chronic pain you are dealing with.

What do I do when nothing has helped my pain?

Many of our patients come to us after years of failed physical therapy, surgery, medications. That’s kind of our specialty. At Override, we take a more comprehensive, specialized approach then you have seen before. We give you a team of specialists across pain medicine, physical therapy, psychology, and coaching working with you throughout your time here – all on one digital platform so they can participate from home. And we teach you pain neuroscience education to look at pain in a totally new way and understand how we can target the nervous system and retrain the brain to override chronic pain.

What conditions does Override treat?

Override treats a range of conditions including, but not limited to: 

  • Abdominal pain
  • Arthritis
  • Burning Mouth Syndrome
  • Cancer pain
  • Centralized pain or chronic pain syndrome
  • Complex regional pain syndromes
  • Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
  • Endometriosis & pelvic pain
  • Failed back surgery syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Inflammatory arthritis
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  • Low back pain & sciatica
  • Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, other autoimmune diseases
  • Lyme disease
  • Migraines, cluster headache, etc.
  • MSK pain unresponsive to physical therapy & interventions
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Phantom limb pain
  • Post-surgical pain
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Spinal cord injury
  • TMJTrigeminal neuralgia

Still have questions?

If we didn’t answer your question, feel free to send us a message!

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