Wednesday 16 January 2019

Chronic Back Pain And Opioid Use

There are multiple prescription and non-prescription medications available to relieve chronic back pain, but you need to take them carefully. Opioids are the most commonly prescribed medicines to relieve chronic pain.




Painkillers are addictive

You need to be careful with them as opioids are highly addictive. You can easily get addicted to them if you don’t take your medicines as recommended by your doctor. For this, you need to monitor your painkiller intake and follow the prescription correctly. The painkillers such as Norco, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, etc. are prescribed by physicians to relieve pain.

These medicines have a huge impact on brain chemistry which is not controllable. Most of the people who take opioids for back pain for more than 2-4 weeks develop tolerance to the medication.

Painkillers may actually increase pain

Opioids are one of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Most of the people don’t know that consuming painkillers for a long time increases a patient’s sensitivity to pain i.e., hyperalgesia. Using opiate drugs for a long time decreases the ability to bear pain. When the pain increases, people believe that they need to increase the dose of medication. This is the first step towards dependability. For those people who are addicted to narcotics may need a detoxification program or sober living program.

How to prevent drug misuse?

Preventing drug misuse is an important part of patient care. There are certain patients that get addicted to prescription stimulants, sedatives, or opioid pain relievers. To avoid this, physicians should balance the legitimate medical needs of patients with the potential risk for misuse and related harms.

Patients should follow these tips to use prescription medications appropriately:
  • Follow the directions as explained on the label or by the pharmacist 
  • Never use another person’s prescription 
  • Being aware of potential interactions with other drugs as well as alcohol 
  • Use free prescription discount cards to get discount on their medications as well as to keep a check on their medicines 
  • Store prescription sedatives, stimulants, and opioids safely – out of the reach of kids 

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