Alternative Treatments to Opioids for Chronic Pain

Chronic pain affects more Americans than cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined. The most common solution to chronic pain is prescribed opioids, which can have a detrimental, addictive influence on patients’ lives. Opioids include fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and methadone.

Becoming addicted to opioids can take a serious toll on one’s livelihood, and the pain reliever itself does not combat the underlying issue, the root cause of the pain.

There are many natural, alternative healing methods for chronic pain, and a number of them can work to identify the patient’s underlying cause of discomfort. If you experience or have experienced pain for more than three months, consider the following natural pain relief options to start your journey towards a pain-free life:

Alternative Chronic Pain Therapy:

Chiropractic Care

Chronic pain syndrome is often traced to anatomical misalignments, commonly along the spine. The spinal column houses the central nervous system, which enables all of our bodily functioning and supports the health of our immune system.

Even a slight misalignment of the spine can throw the body out of balance and manifest in daily life as subtle, excruciating or chronic pain.

Another common cause of chronic pain is inflammation. A chiropractor can introduce you to joint therapy to relieve pain caused by inflammation.

Chiropractors assess the body holistically, meaning they look at all factors that could potentially be contributing the source of experienced pain. If you are under the negative effects of chronic pain, it might not be a matter of the spine, but a chiropractor will be able to narrow down the potential causes of your pain.

If an anatomical misalignment is identified, chiropractic care is non-invasive and has highly effective results amongst patients. Because chiropractors work with your injury in a comprehensive context, you will likely experience other benefits to your body, lifestyle, and overall health, too.

Massage Therapy

Massaging deep and soft tissue alleviates chronic pain by loosening muscle tension and thoroughly relaxing muscle fibers that bunch up after overuse or high impact injury. Many patients report meditative, pain-killer-like effects after massages. This is because the body has its own natural pain relievers that get released as a masseuse properly applies pressure to muscles (especially neck pain relief).

Massages are beneficial to any sufferers of chronic pain, even those unaware of the source. Tight, weak or inadequately trained muscles can all lead to pain signals in the body. If those areas are not fleshed out, your body does not get a chance to recover. Give it this chance! Combine massage therapy with chiropractic for a more thorough (and possibly speedier) healing process.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture has many benefits, one of which is the ongoing reduction of chronic pain. Acupuncture stems from the acupressure system, which focuses on the body’s meridian lines (or the pathways thought to conduct energy flow). Wherever there is buildup along these pathways, needles are inserted to release the pressure and the let energy flow smoothly again.

Acupuncture has great results in pain relief, and because of its use of the body’s energy system, it is also widely recognized for its mood boosting.

It’s important to remember that you have more options for natural back pain therapy other than opioids; chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture are just three examples.

Opioids are plaguing the lives of our peers, and there are ways around them. Please reach out to our doctors at Backfit Health + Spine if you or a loved one is in need of alternative care options. Chronic pain does not have to have control over your life, and we can identify additional ways to combat the source of injury, inflammation or misalignment.

Get in touch with us and book a consultation today.