Have you ever been prescribed opioid medications for healing after a serious injury? If your answer is yes, think again! Opioids are not meant for healing. They’re only band-aids that mask painful symptoms and don’t do a single thing to take care of the underlying cause of your pain. Opioids also pose a large threat of fatal overdose as well, but physical therapy is here to help reduce that possibility.
Long-term opioid consumption is not a good strategy for managing chronic pain. In addition to the risk of addiction, opioids simply alleviate the symptoms (pain) of a larger problem. If you’re in search of measurable, safe, and effective improvement from your chronic pain, come see our physical therapists!
Physical therapy has been proven to be a much better option than opioids or other pharmaceutical painkillers. If you are considering opioids for pain relief but would like to explore other options first, contact our office to talk with a physical therapist at Base Physical Therapy.
What’s the problem with opioids?
No, we’re not being dramatic: there’s a lethal problem with the use of opioids.
Anyone suffering from pain must understand that opioids will not solve the underlying physical problem that is causing the pain. Opioids can make the original problem even worse.
The opioid epidemic in America has gotten so bad in recent years that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending that patients explore alternative options for pain relief. The CDC recommends that opioids now be considered as a “last option” for only the worst pain cases.
For example, suppose a person is suffering chronic pain several months after having shoulder surgery. The wound from surgery has long since healed, but the pain just won’t let up. If that patient relies on opioids to dull the pain, they are putting themselves at risk of re-injuring their shoulder down the road. Pain is the way the body tells us that something is wrong. With opioids removing the pain, that patient might be using their shoulder muscles incorrectly and ultimately making the underlying problem worse!
If that same patient were to work with a physical therapist on pain relief, they stand a much better chance of eliminating the pain. Their shoulder could be healed through physical therapy, manual therapy, proper exercise, body mechanics, and posture work — all without turning to addictive opioid painkillers.
Why physical therapy is a safer, better alternative to opioids
Just because opioids aren’t the best option out there for pain relief doesn’t mean you have to suffer! There are much better options available to you if you’re looking for a way to recover safely.
Alternative and holistic pain relief methods, including physical therapy, are not as fast as opioids, but these methods do not carry the extreme risks of addiction and overdose!
Research performed at Stanford University has shown that choosing physical therapy early, as soon as a person is diagnosed with musculoskeletal pain, reduced the need for opioid pain prescriptions by 7 to 16 percent. In fact, “For patients with shoulder, back or knee pain who did use opioids, early physical therapy was associated with a 5 to 10 percent reduction in how much of the drug they used.” That’s incredible, right?
The beauty of physical therapy is that it helps patients to pinpoint and cure the source of the pain, rather than ignoring the source by dulling the symptoms.
If you’re living with osteoarthritis or any other type of chronic pain, a physical therapist can teach you the proper ways to move and utilize key muscle groups so that the pain source does not get worse over time. Another goal of physical therapy will be to strengthen muscle groups that support aching or painful parts of the body so that real healing can take place.
Your choice to pursue physical therapy will not be a quick solution to pain relief, in most cases. Don’t expect to feel 100% overnight, but know that your healing will be healthy, natural, and safe. Your physical therapist will construct a customized plan that will produce measurable results in pain relief. Because the work will be geared toward curing the source of the pain, you can often eliminate the need for prescription painkillers or opioids.
Ready to find natural pain relief, once and for all?
Kick the opioids with the help of a licensed physical therapist at our clinic. If you suffer from chronic pain and want to know more about how physical therapy can help, call our office today to schedule your first appointment. We’re here to help you ditch prescription medications once and for all.