More than 100 million Americans live with chronic pain or long-term pain. Living daily with pain can be more than frustrating, it can be physically and socially debilitating. Chronic pain can be harmful to your overall health by affecting your sleep patterns, trying to remain active and healthy, and even your moods. Dealing with pain daily can lead to individuals losing their jobs, becoming more socially recluse, and an overall decline in their well-being. Every year millions of Americans are given pain medication prescriptions but is this the right solution?
Pain Management centers are centered around helping both women and men deal with chronic pain without solely being dependent on pain medications. Offering alternative treatment options, as well as emotional and medical support.
The Other Side of Opioid Medications
Opioid-based pain medications are potent drugs with sometimes serious side effects. These are common solutions for patients with acute or short-term pain for example, after an injury or surgery. They are also an option for individuals trying to manage painful symptoms from diseases like cancer or MS. Pain medications can be a great short-term solution. Still, they are not always the right solution for chronic pain from issues like lower back or neck pain, arthritis, or frequent headaches. The longer you take opioid-based pain medications the higher the risk of becoming addicted and dealing with other side effects.
The Serious Risks & Side Effects
One of the major risks with men and women consistently taking opioid-based pain medications is not only a risk of becoming addicted but also their body getting used to the opioid medications which then no longer provide relief. This is why individuals begin to ask for stronger prescriptions or higher doses which can increase addiction and other side effects. Stronger, higher doses of opioid pain medications can also cause constipation, mental confusion or moodiness, and even breathing problems. In 2017, data showed that over 100 Americans die daily from overdosing on opioid painkillers.
Seeking Alternative Options
The main goal for men and women living with chronic pain is to find some relief. Managing daily life while trying to deal with a chronic headache, neck pain, or joint pain can be debilitating and so becoming codependent on pain medications seems the only solution. Pain centers focus their care and support on giving patients alternative solutions for pain relief. Regenerative medicine or other therapy options can be an outlet for patients to get relief in other ways outside of pain medications.
Seeking a Pain Specialist
Opioid pain medications are highly addictive and over time patients need higher dosages to get the same pain relief as their bodies become immune or develop a tolerance. Finding a pain specialist can give individuals other options outside of opioid medications so they can live a better quality of life without chronic pain. Pain Management centers offer other alternative options like:
- Regenerative or PRP therapy utilizes a patient’s blood or platelet-rich plasma to generate healing and reduce joint pain.
- Trigger point injections which involve a cortisone steroid with an anesthetic injected into a target area or muscle to reduce pain.
- Radiofrequency ablation uses a microelectrode to heat up and destroy the nerve that is associated with chronic pain.
- Block methods or injections that numb the target area to give patients relief from neck, shoulder, or back pain.
- Vertebroplasty and other spinal stimulation treatments offer patients spinal compression or back pain relief.
Precision Pain Care and Rehabilitation has four convenient locations in Richmond Hill – Queens and New Hyde Park – Long Island. Call the Queens office at (718) 215-1888, or (516) 419-4480 for the Long Island offices, to arrange an appointment with our Interventional Pain Management Specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Chacko.
