Pain is something that even the hardiest people in the world are unable to withstand. No matter how tough you are, pain will always get to you. Managing your pain is important, as constant pain can seriously interfere with your healthy life. But what can you do when the pain is chronic?
Chronic vs Acute Pain
Have you ever twisted your ankle, wrenched your back, or sprained your wrist? Have you ever broken a bone, gashed your leg, or cut your arm? All of the pain that you feel as a result of these injuries are acute pain. The pain usually only lasts until the injury has healed.
With chronic pain, on the other hand, the pain may never go away. According to WebMD, a pain only becomes chronic after 3 to 6 months of suffering. It can be caused by a wide range of things: disease, an unhealed injury, etc. The pain itself can become a disease, and managing that pain becomes the most important thing in your life.
But what’s the best way to manage the pain?
Narcotic Pain Management
For most people, the first solution for pain management is medication. Opioid medications are narcotics that are used to manage the pain, and they can provide benefits ranging from short to long term. They come in all forms – injections, pills, patches, liquids, and suppositories – but they are all designed to help relieve pain.
The problem with narcotics is that they are only partially effective at relieving the pain. More often than not, they simply distract your mind from the pain you are feeling. They are effective when the pain is chronic, but the analgesic effect is never truly complete. You’ll never be able to completely dull the pain you feel.
To compound the problem of narcotics, most opioids are highly addictive. If you’ve ever seen the hit TV show House, you’ll no doubt have seen the effects of narcotic pain medications. Many people taking narcotics-based pain medication often become addicted to them, causing an entirely new set of problems on top of the chronic pain that they feel.
Natural Pain Management
For those who are trying to find the healthy long methods for pain management and injury relief, many doctors and therapists recommend natural pain relief methods. These methods include:
- Massage
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Hypnosis
- Meditation
- Tai Chi and Qigong
- Herbal remedies for pain
Why are these natural pain methods recommended over narcotics? Simple: they don’t have long term negative side effects. There is little risk of harmful addiction with these methods recommended above, and all of them will have a positive effect on your pain, and some may even help you to reach higher states of meditation and relaxation. Many of these natural pain relief methods have been scientifically proven to provide relief from chronic pain, and they are nearly or as effective as the narcotics-based pain relief methods. The fact that there’s no risk of addiction is definitely a selling point when it comes to natural pain relief.
Radiofrequency ablation is another option for those who want to stay away from strong narcotics. It’s a medical procedure that involves the use of a needle and an electrical current. The current heats the tissue around the area that is suffering from pain. The heating of the tissue does a bit of damage to the nerve endings in that tissue, so it blocks the tissue from sending pain signals to the brain. It is a minimally invasive procedure that can relieve pain for anywhere from 6 months to a year and a half, so it’s a good option to consider if you want to benefit from a narcotics-free treatment for your chronic pain.