Nothing can affect an individual like chronic pain, constant, nagging pain that can make daily life a challenge.

Then there is the issue of choosing a specialist to treat your pain. Where do you turn?

Butler Memorial Hospital offers relief from pain with the Center for Pain Relief, and that relief is growing. Opened in July 2006, the center recently added its fourth physician and will soon begin offering procedures in a second location.

Dr. Ellis Berzon joined the hospital medical staff in November and will soon begin seeing patients in the Center for Pain Relief as it expands to a second location at the Butler Ambulatory Surgery Center at the Benbrook Medical Center in Butler Township.

He joins medical director Sophie Hanna, M.D. as a board certified pain management specialist focusing on interventional pain management. Additionally, Dr. Hanna is board certified in electrodiagnostic medicine and physical medicine.

The Center for Pain Relief is supported by Drs. Randy Rawa and David Hertzog, both anesthesiologists. This team offers a full spectrum of pain relief treatments, meaning patients can get the treatment regimen best suited to help relieve their pain.

"Our Center for Pain Relief is all about patient care," says Rick Allen, senior vice president, new business development and strategic planning.

"Our goal is to continue to enhance patient convenience and the quality of clinical care by offering four highly-trained physicians, including two board certified pain management specialists, with an expanded list of treatment options and the option of two convenient locations."

The availability of two doctors board certified in pain management makes the center unique in this region. It takes three to seven years of additional residency to qualify for certification in a general specialty, and another one to two years for a subspecialty.

Just 25 percent of all U.S. physicians have subspecialty certification, meaning they're deemed capable of delivering the optimum in quality care. Pain medicine is one of those subspecialties.

The Center for Pain Relief is the only place in the area that offers that level of medical expertise because Dr. Hanna Dr. Berzon are the only physicians in Butler who are board certified in pain management.

The Center for Pain Relief can be reached at 724-284-4612.