Injection and surgery before you start strong pain killers

Migraine, neck pain, low back pain and injury are common reason to start strong pain killers. The pains are strong enough to drive you to seek strong pain killers.  

Most of doctors and nurses are very kind to patients. We always want to support our patients, eliminate patient’s symptom and contribute on patient’s health. The fundamental motivation as healthcare providers is making doctors live up to patient’s expectations, and often misleads them to prescribe strong and high dose amount of pain killers.

The “pain as the 5th vital sign” campaign started at the end of 20th century; however, pain is not 5th vital sign anymore. The campaign and pain assessment using numerical pain scales misled both healthcare providers and patients to opioid epidemic in some countries. This is a clear result that they rely on opioid too much. The Joint Commission, the American medical association, the American College of Surgeons, and American Academy of Family Physicians have all withdrawn their advocacy of the “pain as the 5th vital sign” campaign.

Pain killers are beneficial medication. People obtain the benefit over thousands of years. We need to pay attention to the side effects. If you use them for some days and normal dose amount, the side effects are limited. You can receive the benefits of pain relief, however, you take them for a long term, the side effects will overcome the benefits.

NSAIDs, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and celecoxib are common pain killers. Primary doctors prescribe them very frequently. You can buy them at supermarket in some countries. NSAIDs damage your stomach, liver and kidney. It is not virtually known well in non-medical people that NSAIDs are related to drug induced headache, even stroke and heart attack too.

Some of pain killers makes tolerance and dependence, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. The pain killers gradually do not work for your pain and you need to take more and more dose to control your pain: tolerance, and you cannot stand still without the pain killers: dependence. Originally, you went to see a doctor to eliminate your pain as soon as possible, but you eventually you result in frequent hospital visits for many years.

Some patients prefer natural and organic therapy, such as herbs, teas and aromas, but natural and organic don’t always means healthy. They sometimes contain substances that affect hormone balance and brain, in addition, most of them does not pass qualified scientific research.  Even the therapists or the manufacturer does not know the side effects of them adequately. 

Oral pain killers are convenient method to control pain, however, please be aware again that they are chemical “substances”. Long term use silently causes many adverse effects before you knew them. 

Injection and surgery sound scary and you maybe want to avoid these procedures. These therapies may save your time a lot. Modern medicine provides minimum invasive procedure in safer than ever before.

For instance, early surgery fixes alignment of fractured bone and facilitates natural bone fusion, and reduces pain and total duration of pain killers. Single dose of epidural steroidal injection reduces neck and low back pain for several months. They may reduce or stop pain killers and frequent hospital visit. Nerve block for strong pain and post-surgical pain can reduce total amount of opioid, hospital visit and pain killers. These benefits are shown in high quality scientific research. Long term pain killers often cost your time and money more than injection and surgery.

If your pain lasts more than one or two months, or cannot stop opioids more than 3 days, please discuss with doctors about these options.