Several doctors prescribe prescription pills for people with chronic pain, but the some recent guidelines say opioids should only be recommended as a last resort after more natural pain relieving methods have been exhausted. Read on to learn why this new epidemic is seeping the nation.
Key Takeaways:
- Acute pain is short-lived, usually appears suddenly, and is often the result of an injury. Chronic pain lasts longer, has many physical and psychological causes, and can be more difficult to treat.
- Experts now recommend nonpharmacologic treatments for acute back pain. The report points out most acute pain resolves on its own with or without treatment.
- According to the new guidelines, people who experience chronic low back pain should pursue non-drug remedies such as exercise, rehabilitation, mindfulness, acupuncture, yoga, relaxation, laser therapy, or psychotherapy.
"Opioids are a main source of the increasing rates of drug addiction and overdose deaths. In 2014, prescription opioids killed nearly 29,000 people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has called opioid abuse an epidemic, recommended in 2016 that doctors prescribe opioids only when other remedies fail."
