Opioids

Published on August 1, 2023

Why are Opioids so Dangerous?

pouring pills It’s estimated that over 200 million opioid prescriptions are written each year. This use and abuse has led to an epidemic that’s been fueled by chronic pain. Opioids temporarily hide pain by attaching to receptors in the brain and boosting feelings of pleasure. Unfortunately, they do nothing to stimulate healing, leading to a pattern of pain, medications, more pain, and more medications. The good news is that there is a better way to ﬁnd relief.

Why it Matters:

Opioids are in the same family of drugs as heroin, and some opioid medications are thought to be even more addictive. The temporary relief that they oﬀer comes at a steep price. In lower doses, opioids can cause drowsiness or dizziness. In higher doses, they can cause your breathing and heart rate to slow down to dangerous levels. But the most dangerous aspect of opioids is the addiction rate of up to 30%.

Opioids bind to the receptions in your nervous system that block pain and produce intense euphoria.
Tolerance on opioids can occur within a matter of days.
Withdrawal symptoms are severe and can lead to addiction.

Nearly all the latest healthcare guidelines have stopped recommending opioids for non-cancer pain. In most cases, these drugs should not be taken for chronic pain or back pain. To ﬁnd relief without these dangerous drugs, call us today. We’ll schedule a complete evaluation to discover the cause of your pain, then ﬁnd ways to help you get back on your feet.

Finding Relief Without Opioids

There is no question that opioids are powerful pain killers. The problem is they are also highly addictive and don’t actually ﬁx the cause of your pain. But, if you’re struggling with chronic pain, you may be curious what your best options are for care. How can you ﬁx the cause of your pain, ﬁnd lasting relief, and avoid these harmful medications?

Why it Matters:

You may be surprised to discover the people who saw a chiropractor for spine pain had half the risk of ﬁlling an opioid prescription than those who didn’t. It’s not just that chiropractors don’t prescribe these dangerous medications. As time went on, people were not likely to ﬁll an opioid prescription. That indicates the care provided by chiropractors helped people ﬁnd enough relief that they no longer sought medications to ﬁnd relief!

Choosing chiropractic for spinal pain can reduce your risk of ﬁlling an opioid prescription by over 50%.
Masking spine pain with medications can possibly increase your risk of further injury.
Movement-based care helps the body heal and can improve your likelihood of ﬁnding long term relief.

Opioids aren’t meant to treat chronic spinal pain. They don’t help your body heal and become less eﬀective at stopping pain the longer you take them. Instead of building up a tolerance and putting yourself at risk for dependence, it’s a smart decision to explore other treatment options. Call us today to schedule an evaluation so that we can create a personalized treatment plan for you! Our practice is proud to help our community ﬁnd relief from pain without the need for drugs.

Exposing the Truth Behind Opioids

The truth will set you free. While much of the information about how the opioid epidemic is shocking, it’s important to understand how we got here. For example, when we ﬁrst learned that 35 billion opioids (half of all the distributed pills) were handled by about 15% of pharmacies, it became clear that there was a network of “pill mills” that weren’t concerned about helping people actually ﬁnd relief from their chronic pain.

Why it Matters:

Chronic pain is a real issue for tens of millions of people each day. In many of these cases, the answer isn’t found in a pill but rather with a combination of movement-based treatments. Your body heals through motion. Taking medications may provide temporary relief, but they don’t address the cause of your pain.

Nearly everyone who takes opioids for an extended time becomes dependent. We think it’s a smart idea to avoid the risks.

In 2016, over 91 million people used prescription opioids.
The rates of emergency department visits involving opioids more than tripled from 1999 to 2013.
Over 16 million people currently suﬀer from an opioid use disorder.

In the 1990’s medical doctors were falsely lured into prescribing opioids as a treatment for pain. Aggressive marketing of the drugs downplayed the risks, and prescriptions for mild to moderate pain were continued indeﬁnitely, with no intention of tapering oﬀ. This combination has led to the epidemic we are in today. But there is a solution. The ﬁrst step is having the right information about opioids and chronic pain. The next step is to connect with a movement-based practice, like ours, to discover how you can ﬁnd long-term relief without these dangerous medications.

Taking a Stand Against Opioids

About 30 years ago, medicine had a shift in how they thought pain should be addressed. “Pain is a 5th vital sign” became a rallying cry, and new medications were created to block pain…at all costs. They now know that these medications created a never-before-seen healthcare epidemic. To begin with, the drugs weren’t very good at addressing chronic pain, and they require larger and larger doses to achieve an eﬀect over time.

Why it Matters:

Taking a stand against opioids starts with our ability to help people ﬁnd relief from chronic pain. Nearly all of our primary healthcare organizations have now advocated for a non-drug approach to care. And the data is clear- people are looking for solutions for chronic pain that extend beyond a prescription.

The Centers for Disease Control (FDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and others have recommended a non-pharmacological approach to chronic pain should be the ﬁrst line of treatment.
Over 40% of blogs relating to opioids are focused on people trying to ﬁnd solutions “beyond the pill.”
Together, we can end the opioid crisis by breaking the cycle of chronic pain with natural and eﬀective healthcare choices.

Chronic pain is described as biopsychosocial, which means that it’s complex and has many dimensions. Creating personalized care, goal-oriented, and coordinated care plans are critical and exactly why our practice begins each patient with a complete and thorough evaluation. Our evaluation helps us understand your history, your goals, and your current challenges. From there, we can create a comprehensive plan of care that enables you to ﬁnd long-term relief from chronic pain.