The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body Health & Fitness
Afraid of Taking Pain Medication? How Physical Therapy Is The Natural Pain Relief Situation
How Physical Therapy Counters the Problem It’s important to get real about the reason people seek prescription painkillers in the first place -- the pain. These patients are not to be condemned for seeking relief for injuries, arthritis and other degenerative conditions, or for post-surgical discomfort. At the same time, however, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that medications like Percocet, Vicodin, Opana, and OxyContin are extremely addictive. Physical therapy, on the other hand, is so effective because it provides a multi-pronged attack to pain relief. First, therapists can help lessen the immediate pain through heat or ice therapy, lasers, as well as low- pulse electronic equipment.Targeted massage and gentle stretching also eases extreme discomfort when tension or stiffness is part of the problem. In addition, physical therapy works to eradicate the actual source of your pain. So, if weak muscles aren’t supporting an aching body part, for example, your therapy will address this underlying cause. Flexibility moves can also contribute to pain relief because stiffening joints often exacerbate discomfort, or lead to over-reliance on nearby, overstressed muscles.
So why are these prescription drugs -- which after all, are legal if they were prescribed to the user -- in the news so much these days? And whatcanyoudo ifyou’re tornbetweennotfillingyourownprescription, versus seeking relief for your very real pain? Why Opioid Overuse Matters Both opioid prescription rates and deaths from opioid overdoses have quadrupled in the last two decades. Given these identical statistics, one can’t escape the obvious conclusion: Reliance on painkillers has gotten out of hand, and the consequences can be literally fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), doctors now write so many opioid prescriptions each year that it translates to one bottle per adult living in the United States. Of the 330,000 people who died from drug overdoses in 2015, 50 percent involved prescription painkillers. Just as ominous is the discovery that people who become addicted to prescription opioids are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin. Beyond extreme physical risk, over-reliance on prescription painkillers can have other detrimental effects on your health. Withdrawal symptoms can be harrowing. And while you’re still using them, opioids can lead to depression, which sets up a vicious cycle of self- medicating in order to feel better emotionally as well as physically.
Gretna Location (504) 365-1020 Belle Chasse Location (504) 398-2004
3. If further assessment is
1. Feel free to call us and ask to speak to your therapist.
2. Your therapist can discuss with you why your pain is bothering you again and what you might do about it at home.
warranted, your therapist might recommend you come in for an appointment.
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