If the opioid epidemic has taught us anything, it is that anyone can become addicted to painkillers. Opioids are completely legal with a prescription, but their addictive nature can cause dependence on the substance in even the most strong-willed of individuals. Although opioids do help to relieve pain, many patients need to manage symptoms of chronic pain daily. Taking opioids each day for chronic pain management is one of the leading causes of the epidemic. So, how can individuals who have been taking opioids for chronic pain management get help for their addictions if they still need to manage chronic pain? Fortunately, there are alternative methods taken at the Wellness Retreat Recovery for individuals who need to manage symptoms of their chronic pain but also need to recover from addiction.

What is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is when an individual experiences pain for longer than a period of three months. The result of this lasting pain may have a negative effect on both mental health and daily activities. There are a few different reasons why individuals may experience chronic pain including:

• Injury
• Disease
• Infection
• Birth defects/deformities
• Malfunctioning nervous system

Addictive Prescription Medications Used for Chronic Pain Management

Opioids are often prescribed to patients experiencing symptoms of chronic pain because the cause of the pain can not be either found or corrected. There are many different prescriptions with the potential to lead to addiction prescribed for chronic pain management including:

• Morphine
• Hydrocodone
• Oxycodone
• Fentanyl
• Codeine
• Hydromorphone
• Meperidine

Perhaps the most dangerous part of these habit-forming drugs is that they come in pill form, which lessens an individual’s perception of how dangerous they really are. When a drug is in pill form, it’s not seen as a drug; it’s seen as medicine. Although opioids ARE medicine, they are also, in fact, the cause of thousands of deaths a year. What one person thinks is helping them to manage pain can actually turn into a lifelong addiction, which is another form of pain all its own.

Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia

One risk of using opioids for chronic pain management is the development of opioid-induced hyperalgesia. This condition is when individuals experience overactive sensitivity to pain induced by opioid use. Although we don’t know enough about this condition because of lack of research, we do know that it is caused by long-term opioid use, increased opioid doses over long periods of time, and quickly upping doses of administration. People who experience this phenomenon feel pain even when causes of pain are not evident. This is thought to be caused by damaged pain signal transmitters in the brain. For these individuals, it is thought to be impossible to live without prescription opioids to manage pain. Fortunately, they’re wrong; individuals can learn to live without their prescriptions to manage chronic pain.

How Treatment Can help with Chronic Pain Management

At Wellness Retreat Recovery, we invest into physician partners who specialize in addiction to chronic pain medications. With their help, individuals can learn alternative methods to preventing symptoms of chronic pain. Instead of treating the pain, which traditional medicine does through the use of opioid prescriptions, holistic therapies seek the underlying conditions of chronic pain so they can be addressed. Alternative methods of chronic pain management in treatment may include:

• Biofeedback therapy
• Massage
• Acupuncture
• Non-habit forming medications
• Relaxation techniques
• Group and individualized psychotherapies
• Electronic nervous system stimulation

Ready to Get Rid of your Opioid Prescriptions and Handle Chronic Pain Differently?

If you are one of the thousands of people suffering from opioid dependency, you can get help and live a life without the presence of addiction. Treatment is effective in helping determined individuals find alternative ways of chronic pain management. Don’t lose hope. Instead, trust the experts at the Wellness Retreat Recovery, where we treat only 6 patients at a time so that each person gets specific and individualized treatment determined by their needs. Our luxury facility gives you the privacy and getaway that you need to reshape and reevaluate your life. Want to learn more about our programs and find out what treatment is like with us? Visit our website or give us a call at 888-821-0238.