The recent letter from chiropractor Robert Reed (July 18) on the non-opioid treatment of chronic pain negates its premise by using “chronic pain” as a single entity.
“Chronic” is only a time frame much as “persistent” is. With chronic pain, there is no evidence as to what is “causing” the pain as there has been a change in neurons and they are no longer reporting a correct message. This change is permanent and not repairable.
Pain may be caused by injury such as trauma, surgery or torture and last years after the event. Pain may be an illness by itself, such as fibromyalgia, different types of headaches and arthritis, interstitial cystitis, certain genetic conditions and more. Pain accompanies many diseases as part of the disease (or treatment): cancer, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, sickle cell anemia, lupus, post-stroke pain, Parkinson’s, diabetes, ankylosing spondylitis and so many others.
For many of these, opioids are the treatment that is most effective, valid research has verified. A multimodal pain plan should always be used: medications (possibly more than one type) and non-pharmacological therapy that works for the individual patient. Not all pain will respond to the same treatment.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have a Food and Drug Administration black-box warning about the risk of heart attack, stroke and gastrointestinal bleeding from the drugs. Numerous nephrologists believe NSAIDs are one of the leading causes of kidney failure. For over 20 years, NSAIDs have been on the Beers Criteria (a list of medications that should not be used or used cautiously in the older adult).
Complementary therapy with and without medications can help, but it can be expensive and not covered by insurance or covered inadequately and can be prohibitive because of lack of transportation. Again, not all treatments work for an individual or a pain.
Question also how many left the practice because the treatment was not effective for them.
Janice Reynolds
retired registered nurse
Brunswick
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.