Chronic pain could reduce your ability to function properly. Many times it is helpful to adopt home remedies for the pain. Walnut Creek anesthesiology specializes in the treatment of chronic pain and they could help develop a pain management strategy that could work for your condition.
Non-Opioids Treatment for Chronic Pain
- Heat therapy could relieve chronic pain soon after injury. You can press the injured part with a heated pad which can raise your pain threshold and relax the muscles. You could also opt for use of ice on the injured part to relieve pain, decrease inflammation, and reduce muscle spasms.
- Exercises despite facing pain could help deal with some common pain conditions such as back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. However, it is prudent to avoid extreme exercises which could make the situation worse.
- Weight loss could reduce pain since some conditions could be worsened by excess weight. Weight could exert pressure on some body joints increasing inflammation, pain, and reduce normal motion.
- Physical therapy can help you restore everyday motion, thus achieving the ability to walk and perform everyday activities such as bathing, eating, and dressing.
- Electrical stimulation could also help one reduce pain by driving medications into the areas of inflammation and pain.
- Mind-body pain relieving techniques include meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises, hypnosis, and progressive muscle relaxation. They could help reduce pain, elevate pain tolerance, and deal with inflammation.
- Acupuncture, which involves the use of needles on given nerve endings on specific parts of the body, could help you deal with pain effectively. The procedure could help release endorphins which are the body natural pain killers. Acupuncture could also help elevate your mood as it encourages your brain to produce serotonin.
- You could also opt for non-opioids prescription drugs which treat pain effectively. Some of these drugs treat specific pain, for instance triptans, help migraines while pregabalin deals with nerve pain.
The Use of Opioids in Managing Pain
Opioids act with the body’s natural pain relief and when used appropriately it could help manage severe pain. Higher doses can be prescribed to deal with severe nerve pain, however they are addictive and therefore need to be closely managed. You might feel constipated after taking opioids and this could affect your digestive system which controls other body functions. You could also develop nausea and excessive drowsiness, which can be treated by your physician.
Why You Should Avoid Opioid Pain Relief Medications
- Opioids could cause addiction as one starts craving for the substance and you might continue to show compulsive craving for the drug even if the pain has reduced.
- Opioids could also increase tolerance and you might need to take higher doses to manage pain effectively. The drug moreover might show decreased effectiveness as you use it over time.
- You might also develop physical dependence as you develop withdrawal symptoms once you abruptly reduce consumption of the drug.
Conclusion
Chronic pain could adversely affect you, reducing the quality of your life. It is thus prudent to seek pain relief methods that work for your condition. Your medical expert could advise against the use of opioids in pain management as it causes addiction and dependence. It is better to use non-opioids treatment at home, but if the condition is severe it is best to contact your doctor for effective treatment.