opioid crisisWith the opioid crisis threatening millions of lives, you may wonder about alternative pain relief. While drugs like can definitely help, certain drugs may have longer term side effects that can have a detrimental effect.

The fact is, legal painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl may be ok in small doses but when prescribed for chronic pain, far too many people are becoming dependent on them.

A 2016 study by the American Society for Addiction Medicine says,

“Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers and 591,000 had a substance use disorder involving heroin.”

It’s clear that people need additional options for treatment. Preferably natural solutions like acupuncture, chiropractic care, and massage therapy.”

For many of us in the Doylestown area, we associate opioid crisis with the tragic heroin problem. Those are heartbreaking stories.
However, as you can see from the above report if 2 million people have a problem with prescription pain relievers, that can also cause heartbreak.

We think it’s time to reevaluate our options.

In fact, the Center for Disease Control “reports, “Deaths from prescription opioids — drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone — have more than quadrupled since 1999,” rising right along with the numbers of prescriptions. 2

The problem with opioids is that many people start taking them for mild to moderate pain, only to develop a tolerance, which means you need to take more to get the same relief. If people are taking more opioid to feel the full effects, then that means they have become addicted. This would not happen if the current rate of opioid sales in your state is low. It’s important to control your pain, but not to the extent that you start to become addicted. Seek help if you think you are experiencing something similar. Physical dependence can also develop, leading to symptoms of withdrawal if you try to cut back or quit the drugs cold turkey. ” (Source: Mercola). When you read something like this, it comes as no surprise that mtd drug tests are being put into place, in order to detect the drug takers, but to also get them help to come off it effectively.

Fortunately, the traditional medical establishment is starting to recognize the limitations of conventional thinking. Over the years, lobbying chiropractic groups have gotten the attention of Congress.

As a result, Medicaid has extended coverage to chiropractic care in some states and the Food and Drug Administration has issued a statement that healthcare providers should broaden their approach to pain relief.

From a recent FDA report, “Healthcare providers “should be knowledgeable about the range of available therapies, when they may be helpful, and when they should be used as part of a multidisciplinary approach to pain management.”

We think this makes sense. After all, why not use multiple approaches? For example, if you have a painful accident, prescription drugs can relieve the acute pain and may be the best choice for a limited time.

However, if you’re suffering from chronic pain, natural pain relief like massage therapy, chiropractic care, and acupuncture can provide pain relief now while finding a long-term solution to your pain.