Condition Spotlight
Most people experience some kind of pain during their lives. Pain serves an important purpose: it warns the body when it’s in danger. Managing chronic pain is more complicated than treating acute pain. More than 25 million people in the U.S. alone live with chronic pain, which is pain that lasts more than three months.
Opioids are often prescribed for pain. The U.S. is now in the grip of an opioid crisis. Every day, more than 100 Americans die from an opioid overdose. This number includes deaths from prescription opioids. We don’t need ‘better’ opioids. We need to move away from the reliance on opioids for developing pain treatments. Here are some ideas.
Sports medicine professionals and others in the medical world continue to voice their concerns about the use of prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers, many of which contain acetaminophen. To put these Read More
Hernias are a common medical condition that affects various people of different ages. They are not usually serious and do not need surgery in most cases. However, if you have a hernia that is causing Read More
A typical Western high-fat diet can increase the risk of increased pain issues in people with conditions such as diabetes or obesity, according to a groundbreaking paper authored by a team led by The University Read More
When I ask people what is the most prevalent chronic illness, chronic pain isn’t even mentioned. Conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke are usually mentioned long before someone says anything remotely related Read More
If you are suffering from any form of pain, you may be inclined to reach straight for a painkiller tablet. However, natural pain relief remedies are becoming increasingly popular amongst pain sufferers since medication can Read More
Oftentimes, we reach for a go-to over-the-counter (OTC) medication to cure all ailments: from headaches to joint pain to a runny nose. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that these OTC pills (as well as prescription Read More
Back pain is rampant, and it’s the 6th most expensive health condition in the U.S. According to Health Policy Institute, about 65 million people have chronic or persistent back pain in the U.S. Some people Read More
CRPS stands for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, an illness recognized for chronic pain that often occurs in the limbs. There is an insufficient amount of studies on what causes CRPS, but some researchers believe it Read More
For all those people suffering from chronic pain, we all know that excruciating pain which never seems to leave you alone, to the point where it seems like it’s a part of your life. But Read More
More than 38% of Americans experience migraines, according to Migraine.com. For these people, feeling helpless while doing tasks that demand their peak productivity is a norm. Even worse, the migraines can attack you consistently during Read More
When a patient with chronic pain is experiencing symptoms, relief is only thing on their mind. NSAIDs, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can often provide that relief, however it’s important to balance the potential benefits with the potential risks of these drugs.
Penney Cowan founded the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) in part to educate people about alternative solutions to pain management. In a recent interview with the Alliance for Rational Use of NSAIDs, she discussed how patients could address their NSAID usage.
“It helps to think of a person with chronic pain as a car with four flat tires. Our expectation is: all we need is one medication, such as NSAIDs, or treatment that will take away the pain, but it only puts air in one of the tires. What else do you need to get back on the road? For each person the necessary combination of therapies and interventions will be different. We need to work with our health care providers to find out what we need to fill up our other three tires, such as physical therapy, counseling or nutritional guidance,” she said.
NSAIDs can provide effective pain relief, but they are not without potential side effects. Patients with chronic pain who use these pain relievers at a high dose and/or for extended periods of time may be at the greatest risk for side effects. For many patients, however, the immediate benefits of NSAIDs outweigh the potential for long-term risks.
“In the moment of pain, a patient is only looking for relief and all logic goes out the window. They’re going to take an NSAID without looking two to three years down the road. The key is helping people understand the risks of long-term use through education,” said Cowan.
The Alliance for Rational Use of NSAIDs is a public health coalition dedicated to the safe and appropriated use of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Source The Alliance for Rational Use of NSAIDs
