Managing Chronic Pain without Medication
September is National Pain Awareness Month, and studies estimate that 50 million Americans (just over 20%) live with chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as any pain lasting 90 days or more.
Pain can be a mild nuisance for some, but for others it can be debilitating and life-altering. The latter can cause not only physical pain, but also emotional pain that can lead to anger, depression or irritability.
Though pain can be difficult to manage, medication is usually not the answer, especially to start. Opioids have faced increasing scrutiny as people attempt to manage their pain. In many cases, opioids carry a high risk of abuse and addiction.
A history of over-prescribing has led to a massive opioid epidemic – though the United States makes up only 4.4% of the world’s population, Americans consume over 80% of the world’s opioids.
It’s a common misconception that opioid addiction is an issue only for young adults, but the epidemic is affecting people of all ages. While overdose deaths are rising in all age groups, the greatest percentage increase has been among adults ages 55 to 64. Aging comes with an increased risk of conditions that can cause chronic pain, which contributes to rising opioid use in these age groups.
Pain medication works to mask pain by interrupting pain signals to the brain, but it does nothing to address or correct the root cause of pain. Physical therapy focuses on prevention, optimum functioning and symptom management by treating the body as a whole. Physical therapy treatments for chronic pain may include:
- Therapeutic exercise
- Manual therapy techniques
- Stress management
- Sleep hygiene
- Education
- Kinesiology taping
- Heat/cold
- Postural correction
There is a time and place for pain medication when properly dosed and supervised, especially in cancer treatment, palliative care, end-of-life care and acute care situations. In other chronic pain situations, physical therapy can help stop the progression of pain, prevent future pain and relieve existing pain.
Guidelines from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) state that “Nonpharmacologic therapy and nonopioid pharmacologic therapy are preferred for chronic pain,” (“CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain – United States, 2016″ – March 15, 2016). “Clinicians should consider opioid therapy only if expected benefits for both pain and function are anticipated to outweigh risks to the patient. If opioids are used, they should be combined with nonpharmacologic therapy and nonopioid pharmacologic therapy, as appropriate.”
To learn more, visit cdc.gov.
To find a Renue Physical Therapy location near you, please click here.