Why You Shouldn’t Try An Opioid For Pain Relief

Opioid drugs function by binding to opioid receptors in the spinal cord, brain, and other numerous areas of the user’s body. They reduce or inhibit the sending of pain messages via the nervous system to the brain, hence reducing the feelings of pain. Opioids are mainly employed in the treatment of moderate or severe pain that may be unresponsive to other pain medications. They give pain relief (analgesia) via action at kappa, mu, and/or delta receptors that are found throughout the central nervous system, which includes both the spinal cord and the brain, and, to a lesser extent, the peripheral nervous system.

Opioid Chronic Pain Management

Pain and substance abuse co-occur frequently. Each makes the other more and more difficult to treat. The side effects brought by mu opioids are often dose-related. These include sedation, respiratory depression, cognitive blurring, miosis (pupillary constriction), urinary retention, nausea, reward, and constipation. Apart from constipation, other side effects seem to be transient. These generally resolve in a short duration (a few days) at a stable regular dosage. Side effects may also reemerge with increased dosage.

Opioid Treatment

Kappa agonists tend to have a lesser incidence of these side effects such as sedation, nausea, and respiratory depression, as compared to mu opioids. Reward also appears less often. Some individuals often misuse these medicines for euphoria.

Effective corrective treatments most of these side effects are available when they persist. Many studies have documented that cognitive and sedative side effects of opioids are negligible in most persons using a stable dose over a prolonged period of time. Therefore, most persons who use opioids on a long-term basis for analgesia may perform high-level mental and physical work without compromise of function.

The Science of Chronic Pain

The probability of opioid-impelled hyperalgesia (expanding pain or pain affectability) must be considered when pain continues exacerbating with no other identifiable cause in a patient utilizing high doses. One conceivable reason for this wonder is that opioids may enact N-methyl-D-aspartic corrosive (NMDA) receptors, which has been appeared to bring about neuropathic torment tentatively. The relationship between opioid resistance and opioid-affected hyperalgesia is a subject of extraordinary enthusiasm among opioid scientists and agony clinicians.

Alternative Chronic Pain Treatment & Therapies

Patients should at times be decreased opioids when proceeded with upward titration is not doable because of expanding reactions, torment, or different concerns, and changing to another opioid does not help. Once in a while patients enhance clinically with lower dosages or end of opioids. In the event that torment increments amid a decrease from opioids, elective ways to deal with agony administration ought to be escalated.

Learn more about topical compounds and opioid painkillers for chronic pain management by reading our article 10 Tips for Managing Chronic Pain.

 Topical Compounds for Chronic Pain Relief

But there is an alternative to opioid pain relievers that minimizes the problems associated with their use; topical compound analgesic creams. The benefits of adding a topical compound can dramatically improve the quality of life for chronic pain patients. Studies have shown that adding a prescription topical pain cream to treatment regimens can soothe painful muscles and joints while providing relief for your chronic pain. Effects are immediate and the cream is easily applied like lotion to the skin.