Opioids: Questions for your healthcare provider

Opioids

We here at GeriTraK saw the opioid crisis coming years ago.

The preferred solution to stop peoples pain with pills alone was something we could not believe, given our physical therapy training.

The rush to ask everyone that was in the hospital how their pain was on a scale of 1 – 10 and then to respond with pain medication without trying re-positioning, even ice or rebandaging, was something that was difficult to watch.

– We tried to educate others that the instant fix of a pill was not necessary at times.

– We had learned that swelling could be a cause of pain as well as chronic pain yet we felt helpless.

It seemed to us that others felt that pain should always be remedied by the provision of medication.

– We realized that this became part of the hospital mentality.

– Later on, we learned that the opioid problem was much broader and not only within the hospital system, nor only confined to one state or one country.

– We saw the difficulty people with pain had to endure with the opioid medication side effect: severe constipation.

– We saw other side effects

– We witnessed the unbalanced approach of solving problems with the quick fix.

– We saw that it also taught the person with pain that medication was pretty much the main solution in the minds of the prescribers.

– We saw it all unfolding, without restraint and seeming disregard for the consequences.

The term, a quick fix, has multiple meanings – especially in the context of the outcome with opioid type pain medication easily sliding into addiction.

Did you know that an opioid can create addiction within five to six days, and the nervous system can take nearly twelve months to readjust once opioid use is stopped?

Physical Therapists instead of an Opioid

There are physical therapists that have been trained in chronic pain treatment. These therapists and researchers are at the forefront of a better way to deal with chronic pain.

The better way is based on understanding how people have different ways in which they respond to pain and the variability cannot be treated with a one-size-fits-all approach.

The science is developing much faster than it has in the past and promises to bring a series of better treatment approaches. In fact, some of these treatments are already available.

Lorimer Moseley is a world-respected pain scientist, professor and has a physical therapy degree.

Professor Mosely is working with and through the clinicians to create worldwide change.

Here are 3 questions that he advises people to ask their pain trained physical therapist or clinician.

How do I know if my pain system is being over protective?

How do I retrain my pain system to be less protective?

How do I know if I am safe to move?

Summary – Your therapist’s education in this area will help you progress if they are trained in the concept that pain over three months duration is pretty much classified as chronic and it is a learned/responsive process in the nervous system that is highly complex.
Refer to Lorimer Moseley

https://www.tamethebeast.org/#tame-the-beast

Please refer to Prof.Kathleen Sluka’s work on the effect of exercise on pain.

https://medicine.uiowa.edu/pt/profile/kathleen-sluka

……….Stay tuned to our GeriTraK series on Acute pain.

GeriTraK. Good To Know

Opioids

We here at GeriTraK saw the opioid crisis coming years ago.

The preferred solution to stop peoples pain with pills alone was something we could not believe, given our physical therapy training.

The rush to ask everyone that was in the hospital how their pain was on a scale of 1 – 10 and then to respond with pain medication without trying re-positioning, even ice or rebandaging, was something that was difficult to watch.

– We tried to educate others that the instant fix of a pill was not necessary at times.

– We had learned that swelling could be a cause of pain as well as chronic pain yet we felt helpless.

It seemed to us that others felt that pain should always be remedied by the provision of medication.

– We realized that this became part of the hospital mentality.

– Later on, we learned that the opioid problem was much broader and not only within the hospital system, nor only confined to one state or one country.

– We saw the difficulty people with pain had to endure with the opioid medication side effect: severe constipation.

– We saw other side effects

– We witnessed the unbalanced approach of solving problems with the quick fix.

– We saw that it also taught the person with pain that medication was pretty much the main solution in the minds of the prescribers.

– We saw it all unfolding, without restraint and seeming disregard for the consequences.

The term, a quick fix, has multiple meanings – especially in the context of the outcome with opioid type pain medication easily sliding into addiction.

Did you know that an opioid can create addiction within five to six days, and the nervous system can take nearly twelve months to readjust once opioid use is stopped?

Physical Therapists instead of an Opioid

There are physical therapists that have been trained in chronic pain treatment. These therapists and researchers are at the forefront of a better way to deal with chronic pain.

The better way is based on understanding how people have different ways in which they respond to pain and the variability cannot be treated with a one-size-fits-all approach.

The science is developing much faster than it has in the past and promises to bring a series of better treatment approaches. In fact, some of these treatments are already available.

Lorimer Moseley is a world-respected pain scientist, professor and has a physical therapy degree.

Professor Mosely is working with and through the clinicians to create worldwide change.

Here are 3 questions that he advises people to ask their pain trained physical therapist or clinician.

How do I know if my pain system is being over protective?

How do I retrain my pain system to be less protective?

How do I know if I am safe to move?

Summary – Your therapist’s education in this area will help you progress if they are trained in the concept that pain over three months duration is pretty much classified as chronic and it is a learned/responsive process in the nervous system that is highly complex.