Op-Ed: Opioids don’t do enough for chronic pain sufferers
2 years, 2 months ago

Op-Ed: Opioids don’t do enough for chronic pain sufferers

LA Times  

A protester gathers bottles of pills including OxyContin at a 2019 anti-opioid demonstration in front of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington. A new form of cognitive therapy called pain reprocessing therapy — which according to researchers teaches people that “the brain actively constructs primary chronic pain in the absence of tissue damage and that reappraising the causes and threat value of pain can reduce or eliminate it” — led to 52% of back pain patients being pain-free, compared with just 16% of those who received conventional care. In November 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first virtual reality system shown in randomized clinical trials to help people with chronic lower back pain. The major reason patients with chronic pain have suffered is because they have been treated by a system that prioritized fast prescriptions or profitable procedures, neither of which actually relieve chronic pain. The White House unveiled its National Drug Control Strategy last April, which while quite comprehensive, does little about ensuring patients with chronic pain receive broader access to interdisciplinary pain management.

Patients Pain Chronic Pain Chronic Opioid  dont  therapies  pain  therapy  offer  sufferers  chronic  patients  opioid  states  shown  system  opioids  oped

History of this topic

Opinion: Why are we denying people with opioid addiction the most effective treatment?
1 year, 11 months ago

Opinion: Why are we denying people with opioid addiction the most effective treatment?

LA Times  

Signs at an Oregon treatment center show where receptacles to dispense methadone should be disposed of after use. But if your diagnosis were for opioid addiction and you came to see me, an addiction specialist, federal regulations written half a century ago would bar me from prescribing the most effective treatment: methadone. If I want my patients to access this …

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines
2 years ago

Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines

CNN  

KHN — Jessica Layman estimates she has called more than 150 doctors in the past few years in her search for someone to prescribe opioids for her chronic pain. The first CDC guidelines “put everybody on notice,” said Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, chair of the American Medical Association’s Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force. Taking into account the perspective of …

Op-Ed: Finally, some promising news on opioids for patients in severe pain
2 years, 3 months ago

Op-Ed: Finally, some promising news on opioids for patients in severe pain

LA Times  

The U.S. remains in the midst of an ever-worsening drug overdose crisis. Meanwhile, physicians have had to balance the risk of criminal prosecution for prescribing opioids against their responsibility to treat patients’ pain. While some doctors were financially incentivized to overprescribe opioids, others caught scrutiny simply for providing relief to patients in debilitating pain. Tragically, recent studies found that chronic …

CDC updates opioid prescribing guidelines with new recommendations on tapering or continuing prescriptions
2 years, 4 months ago

CDC updates opioid prescribing guidelines with new recommendations on tapering or continuing prescriptions

CNN  

CNN — For the first time since 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines for clinicians and patients on the use of prescription opioids to treat short-term and long-term pain. Advice for doctors and patients The guidelines recommend that when starting opioid therapy for any pain patient – acute, subacute or chronic – “clinicians …

Anti-inflammatory drugs could increase chronic pain risk, study suggests
2 years, 10 months ago

Anti-inflammatory drugs could increase chronic pain risk, study suggests

The Independent  

Using drugs like ibuprofen and steroids to relieve short-term pain could increase the chances of developing chronic pain, new research suggests. Jeffrey Mogil, a professor of pain studies at McGill University in Canada, said: “For many decades it’s been standard medical practice to treat pain with anti-inflammatory drugs. “But we found that this short-term fix could lead to longer-term problems.” …

Op-Ed: Is that pain you feel all in your head?
2 years, 10 months ago

Op-Ed: Is that pain you feel all in your head?

LA Times  

When I prolapsed a disc in my spine in the middle of a bench press back in medical school, pain became a persistent presence in my life, and I feared that my injury would end my nascent career as a physician. Acknowledging that connection and destigmatizing the phrase “all in the head” is crucial, not least because the mind represents …

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions
3 years, 1 month ago

CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing — and in some instances, softening — guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. But it also caused some doctors to become too quick to cut off patients taking prescription painkillers and too strict in keeping the drugs from patients who might benefit, CDC …

How the Covid surgery backlog is leaving thousands of new victims addicted to opioids
3 years, 1 month ago

How the Covid surgery backlog is leaving thousands of new victims addicted to opioids

Daily Mail  

As Sheena Mason-White left hospital five days after undergoing major spinal surgery last June, a doctor handed her a paper bag full of medicines to aid her recovery. Sheena’s instructions were clear — take two tablets four times a day and once the first week’s supply was used up, simply ring her GP practice to request a repeat prescription. As …

Can 'lifestyle medicine' such as diet, exercise and mindfulness help treat chronic pain?
3 years, 7 months ago

Can 'lifestyle medicine' such as diet, exercise and mindfulness help treat chronic pain?

ABC  

Anu Kulkarni has been happily married for more than 30 years, has a beautiful daughter and a son, a dog, and loves throwing parties. "I'm in pain every single day," Anu says, having spent the better part of three decades dealing with chronic pain. Neuroscientist Tasha Stanton says a person's brain can be "tricked" out of chronic pain. "And I …

Concern from patients after Nice advise against painkillers for chronic pain
3 years, 11 months ago

Concern from patients after Nice advise against painkillers for chronic pain

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “What’s best for each person will vary so Nice’s recommendations for anti-depressants and exercise is …

7 ways to manage chronic pain that don’t involve painkillers
3 years, 11 months ago

7 ways to manage chronic pain that don’t involve painkillers

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. …

Chronic pain sufferers should not be given opioids, says medicines watchdog
4 years, 7 months ago

Chronic pain sufferers should not be given opioids, says medicines watchdog

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In new draft guidance, Nice said most of the common medications used for chronic primary …

Social deprivation adds to chronic pain. So swapping opiates for talking therapy won't be the silver bullet
4 years, 7 months ago

Social deprivation adds to chronic pain. So swapping opiates for talking therapy won't be the silver bullet

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. NICE is suggesting that the strong …

Doctors must listen to patients about their pain – and if that means prescribing opioids, so be it
5 years, 1 month ago

Doctors must listen to patients about their pain – and if that means prescribing opioids, so be it

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Don’t you know I have a …

There’s So Much We Still Don’t Know About Pain
5 years, 1 month ago

There’s So Much We Still Don’t Know About Pain

Huff Post  

Illustration by Sara Andreasson for HuffPost This story is part of Pain in America, a nine-part series looking at some of the underlying causes of the opioid addiction crisis and how we treat pain. Why Pain Is So Hard To Treat “We use ‘pain’ as one word, but I think it reflects a panoply of different disorders,” says David Julius, …

Opioids offer little chronic pain benefit and wane over time, study says
6 years, 3 months ago

Opioids offer little chronic pain benefit and wane over time, study says

CNN  

CNN — For adults with chronic pain, opioids offer narrow improvements over a placebo for pain and physical functioning, on average, according to a new analysis published Tuesday. “The benefits of opioids for managing chronic pain tend to be quite modest,” said study author Jason Busse, associate professor in the department of anesthesia at McMaster University’s school of medicine in …

The Government’s Solution To The Opioid Crisis Feels Like A War To Pain Patients
6 years, 7 months ago

The Government’s Solution To The Opioid Crisis Feels Like A War To Pain Patients

Huff Post  

Jay Lawrence, an energetic truck driver in his late 30s, was driving a semitrailer across a bridge when the brakes failed. “And then that they’re denied relief by a doctor with the one medicine proven effective for pain control for 50 centuries.” “The CDC guidelines have been weaponized.” - Dr. Stefan Kertesz The government’s aggressive focus on doctors and patients …

There's Another Opioid Crisis We Don't Talk About And I'm Trapped In The Middle Of It
6 years, 8 months ago

There's Another Opioid Crisis We Don't Talk About And I'm Trapped In The Middle Of It

Huff Post  

Rick Lunkenheimer lying at a 45-degree angle on a wedge pillow with extra pillow for neck support, configurable desk and microphone for voice dictation. The debate on the opioid crisis often overlooks chronic pain patients who take these medications responsibly. Thus, slots with the doctor became a scarce resource, and the net result was that many chronic pain patients weren’t …

Chronic Pain Patients Need -- And Want -- Non-Opioid Options
7 years ago

Chronic Pain Patients Need -- And Want -- Non-Opioid Options

Huff Post  

Philip Curtis / EyeEm via Getty Images Approximately 11.5 million U.S. adults misused prescription painkillers in the past year ― and for more than half of them, the reason for the misuse was physical pain. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently said that chronic pain sufferers should “take some aspirin … and tough it out.” Unfortunately, his insensitivity and ignorance surrounding …

Questions And Answers About Opioids And Chronic Pain
7 years ago

Questions And Answers About Opioids And Chronic Pain

NPR  

Questions And Answers About Opioids And Chronic Pain Enlarge this image toggle caption Hero Images/Getty Images Hero Images/Getty Images Millions of Americans use opioids to relieve pain. And it's a good point as to why it's not better covered, because many of our treatments for chronic pain really only confer improvement to 20 to 30 percent of people. It's amazing …

Opioids Don't Beat Other Medications For Chronic Pain
7 years ago

Opioids Don't Beat Other Medications For Chronic Pain

NPR  

Opioids Don't Beat Other Medications For Chronic Pain Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Smith/KCUR Alex Smith/KCUR A few years ago, Renea Molden's doctors told her they wanted to take her off her opioid pills. "This study adds the long-term evidence that shows that opioids really don't have any advantages in terms of pain relief that might outweigh the known …

Why better pain management techniques are essential to solving the opioid crisis
7 years, 1 month ago

Why better pain management techniques are essential to solving the opioid crisis

ABC  

Australia is facing a critical public health issue of poorly managed pain. The combination of poor health outcomes, inappropriate prescribing for pain and non-prescription use of opioids has resulted in opioid-related deaths surpassing the national annual road toll. Opioids are best used for acute pain management, to manage severe pain after surgery, injuries or burns, pain from problems such as …

Is There A Way To Keep Using Opioid Painkillers And Reduce Risk?
7 years, 4 months ago

Is There A Way To Keep Using Opioid Painkillers And Reduce Risk?

NPR  

Is There A Way To Keep Using Opioid Painkillers And Reduce Risk? "Life wasn't going to be worth living if I couldn't get the pain under control," McHann says. In a viewpoint published last month in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, CDC officials wrote that while illicit opioids such as fentanyl seem to be driving the recent …

Op-Ed: The opioid crackdown is making life untenable for chronic pain patients like me
7 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: The opioid crackdown is making life untenable for chronic pain patients like me

LA Times  

President Trump recently said that he intends to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency. The rate of misuse is much lower among patients who are prescribed opioid medication for chronic pain — 21% to 29%, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. An even smaller percentage of chronic pain patients develop a disorder — between 8% and 12%. …

A guide to prescribing painkillers ethically
7 years, 6 months ago

A guide to prescribing painkillers ethically

Daily Mail  

America's opioid crisis is getting worse. As a bioethicist working on the ethical and policy issues regarding prescription opioids, I am grateful to the National Academy of Medicine for inviting me to serve on this publication's authorship team, and for taking seriously the ethical component of the prescription opioid crisis. A National Academy of Medicine researcher has written a guide …

Holistic Therapy Programs May Help Pain Sufferers Ditch Opioids
7 years, 7 months ago

Holistic Therapy Programs May Help Pain Sufferers Ditch Opioids

NPR  

Holistic Therapy Programs May Help Pain Sufferers Ditch Opioids Enlarge this image toggle caption Hero Images/Getty Images Hero Images/Getty Images Each year, more than 300 patients with chronic pain take part in a three-week program at the Pain Rehabilitation Center at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Their complaints range widely, from specific problems such as intractable lower-back pain to systemic …

Cutting down on opioids has made life miserable for chronic pain patients.
7 years, 7 months ago

Cutting down on opioids has made life miserable for chronic pain patients.

Slate  

On July 26, Todd Graham, 56, a well-respected rehabilitation specialist in Mishawaka, Indiana, lost his life. My doctor decided that she did not want to treat me anymore, didn’t give me a last prescription, and didn’t wait until I found another pain doctor who would help me.” For the past 30 years, Dr. R has been an advocate for better …

After surgery, more than two-thirds of patients wind up with leftover prescription opioids, study finds
7 years, 7 months ago

After surgery, more than two-thirds of patients wind up with leftover prescription opioids, study finds

LA Times  

Surgical patients who are prescribed opioids for their pain are frequently left with unused pills, a new study finds. The researchers, from Johns Hopkins University, examined data from six previously published studies and organized it into seven categories according to the type of surgery the patients had. When patients were asked why they hadn’t used all of their prescription pills, …

How tapering off opioids can help people with chronic pain
7 years, 8 months ago

How tapering off opioids can help people with chronic pain

CNN  

Story highlights Pain management can include behavioral, occupational and physical therapies About 10 million Americans are prescribed narcotics for chronic pain CNN — Last year, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established new guidelines on prescribing opioids, it recommended that long-term opioid users be weaned or tapered off pain pills. A study published this week in the …

How VR could break America's opioid addiction
7 years, 10 months ago

How VR could break America's opioid addiction

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It’s hard to know when you are treating anxiety …

Psychiatrists Should Take a More Active Role in Treating Pain
8 years, 9 months ago

Psychiatrists Should Take a More Active Role in Treating Pain

Huff Post  

The recent opioid-prescribing guidelines from the CDC have renewed attention of health care providers to the epidemic of chronic pain, with which the opioid crisis is closely intertwined. Many people suffering from chronic pain are also expressing despair at their physicians suddenly seeing them as part of the opioid problem and as potential addicts. In fact, there is evidence that …

Many people 'misusing' opioids for chronic pain, finds new study
8 years, 10 months ago

Many people 'misusing' opioids for chronic pain, finds new study

Firstpost  

More and more people are struggling with addiction to opioid and prescription medications, warns a study, adding that they are misusing them for chronic pain and “self-medicating” their pain. New York: More and more people are struggling with addiction to opioid and prescription medications, warns a study, adding that they are misusing them for chronic pain and “self-medicating” their pain. …

You asked, we answered: The best from our Reddit Q&A on OxyContin
8 years, 10 months ago

You asked, we answered: The best from our Reddit Q&A on OxyContin

LA Times  

The drugmaker Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin two decades ago with a bold marketing claim: One dose relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic medications. But our Los Angeles Times investigation found that OxyContin’s stunning success masked a fundamental problem: The drug wears off hours early in many people, exposing them to painful symptoms of withdrawal …

Could cannabis help prevent prescription painkiller abuse?
9 years ago

Could cannabis help prevent prescription painkiller abuse?

Daily Mail  

Medical marijuana reduces the use of prescription opioids in those patients battling chronic pain, experts revealed. Patients using cannabis to control chronic pain reported a 64 per cent reduction in their use of traditional pain medications, a new study concluded. ‘The magnitude of reduction in our study is significant enough to affect an individual’s risk of accidental death from overdose.’ …

CDC guidelines aim to curb painkiller prescribing
9 years ago

CDC guidelines aim to curb painkiller prescribing

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Prescription painkillers should not be a first choice for treating common ailments like back pain and arthritis, according to new federal guidelines designed to reshape how doctors prescribe drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin. “We’re trying to chart a safer and more effective course for dealing with chronic pain,” Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, said in an interview …

Opioids are bad medicine for chronic pain, say new federal guidelines
9 years ago

Opioids are bad medicine for chronic pain, say new federal guidelines

LA Times  

Federal health officials speaking in unusually blunt terms Tuesday called on the American medical community to turn away from treating common ailments with highly addictive painkillers, saying the nation’s prescription drug epidemic was a “doctor-driven” crisis. About 250 million painkiller prescriptions were written in 2013, enough, the agency noted, “for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.” In …

CDC Has Advice For Primary Care Doctors About Opioids
9 years ago

CDC Has Advice For Primary Care Doctors About Opioids

NPR  

CDC Has Advice For Primary Care Doctors About Opioids Enlarge this image toggle caption Robin Nelson/Zumapress.com/Corbis Robin Nelson/Zumapress.com/Corbis In response to the opioid epidemic that has swept the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released long-anticipated guidelines on prescribing opioid painkillers such as OxyContin and Percocet. On how Houry hopes the guidelines will change the way doctors treat …

DR MARK ABRAHAMS tells how to end chronic pain and regain control of your body
10 years ago

DR MARK ABRAHAMS tells how to end chronic pain and regain control of your body

Daily Mail  

Chronic pain affects millions and is explored in Jennifer Aniston's new film Cake Pain. It’s termed chronic pain and can apply to myriad health problems, from certain types of headache, arthritis and spinal injuries to neurological illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. As your pain isn’t visible, explaining chronic pain to those who have not experienced it is difficult …

Doctors Call For Pullback On Narcotics For Chronic Pain
13 years, 6 months ago

Doctors Call For Pullback On Narcotics For Chronic Pain

NPR  

Doctors Call For Pullback On Narcotics For Chronic Pain Enlarge this image toggle caption Sue Ogrocki/AP Sue Ogrocki/AP In a bracing call to action, three doctors from California are telling their peers to think twice before prescribing potent narcotics for patients with chronic pain. Sponsor Message "Unfortuantely, the use of prescription opioids currently results in more deaths in the United …

Discover Related