I agree completely. If I had listened to two ortho docs 8 years ago, who told me that there was nothing that could be done for my lower back pain, I would likely be in a nursing home. I learned pretty quickly that I had to be my own best advocate, Yes, docs and staff are often overworked...or, thay just don't want to get vested in a more complex problem. Right not the pain doc who is managing my pain pump (which has done nothing to mitigate my pain) has done nothing to explore other avenues of treatment to help address my increasing, severe, chronic pain. I had to go to another pain doc to get other treatment options. Now I am being scheduled for a trial of a spinal cord stimulator. Four years of searching, mostly on my own.