For some people with severe back pain, pain medication becomes necessary. Pain medications may be administered to people with good (short-term) pain in order to make functioning possible, as well as to people with chronic pain comprar researh chemicals spain to make pain manageable while pursuing other forms of treatment to address the cause of pain.
That is the ideal situation. Unfortunately, many people suffer from what is called non-specific back pain, and thus no cause is identified. People with good back pain can quickly become chronic pain sufferers. Chronic back pain sufferers can quickly fall into the trap of being “treated” solely by drugs that mask the pain.
Many people trust their doctors to treat them in the best way possible, and would not question their prescription medications. However, an increasingly problematic phenomenon exists in the prescription of short-acting opioid medications for chronic pain management. Short-acting opioids are narcotic medications that give treatment for a short time of time and require frequent re-dosing and, over time, higher doses in order to deliver the same pain-relieving effect.
Short-acting opioids are more habit-forming than long-acting medications and have unpleasant alienation symptoms, such as diarrhea, tremors and flu-like symptoms. They also act psychologically on the pain victim as the pain returns during alienation. Long-acting opioids are preferred to short-acting forms for chronic pain. Why, then, are internet boards full of people asking how to wean themselves off of percocet, a short-acting opioid consists of oxycodone and acetaminophen?
Percocet is in the ranks of pain medications that combine a short-acting opioid with acetaminophen; others include vicodin (acetaminophen and hydrocodone) and Tylenol #3 (codeine and acetaminophen). Long-term acetaminophen use is well-known to be toxic to the hard working liver. This fact, with the dangers of long-term use of short-acting opioids, makes these medications wholly not fit for purpose for chronic pain sufferers. Yet the prescription medications continue.
What you can do
If you have been prescribed percocet or another inappropriate opioid for long-term use, do not hesitate to address your doctor. Your approach to saving yourself from chemical reliance should be two-pronged:
1) Let your doctor know that you are aware that the medication you are taking is not appropriate or safe for your pain condition. The way to avoid alienation and continue managing pain will depend on how long you’ve been on your current medication. Hit on your doctor about safer alternatives, such as long-acting forms of medication. Note that these medications also come with risk of reliance; this leads to the second prong of your approach:
2) Don’t stop at safer medication. Back pain treatment should not begin and end with masking the pain. Your pain is a sign that something is wrong within your body. Failure to identify and rectify the cause of pain could lead to progressive conditions, such as spinal misalignment, degenerative dvd disease and factor joint pain, to name a few. Even if a perfect cause is not identified, it never wounds to try out available treatments, such as chiropractic care, physical therapy and massage therapy. Other treatments involve analyzing and changing postural dysfunction and muscle fluctuations. The list of alternative and supporting treatments for back pain is extensive. Don’t give up.