The Physician’s Dilemma with Opioid Addiction
For centuries, opioids have been the go to for physicians and medical practitioners when treating conditions involving pain. Opioids are in most cases recommended for the relief of acute short term pain caused by various illnesses and conditions.
Unfortunately, there are certain concerns and difficulties faced by physicians today with regard to the use of opioids for treatment. We’re going to briefly discuss these in this blog.
The Dilemma
When it comes to opioids and pain relief, one of the arguments in support of use for medical treatment include the fact that opioids are highly effective. In many instances, opioids are able to provide adequate pain relief in situations where other, less potent pain medication options might be ineffective. Where short term use for acute pain is still acceptable under certain circumstances, there is more awareness now regarding the negative effect of opioids when used to treat chronic pain.
Opioid Tolerance and Addiction—What We Know
Over the years it has become quite clear that despite the highly effective pain relief offered, opioid treatments do not come without difficulties. The two biggest concerns for physicians the world over, when it comes to opioid treatments are; tolerance and addiction.
Opioid tolerance builds the more they are used and the body has a high affinity for the same – in other words, it does not take long for a given dose of opioids to be rendered ineffective. Apart from this, opioids are among the most addictive substances or compounds in the world today and have a high potential for abuse.
In the past, numerous patients, particularly those who were given quick-fix opioid treatment for various problems have ended up suffering from and having to be treated for opioid addiction. Such addiction in many cases has even ended in death.
Keeping all this in mind, legislation around the use of opioids for pain treatment was made stricter in various parts of the world.
New Legislation
In response to the research and observations proving opioids to be a tricky form of pain relief to deal with, stringent guidelines were produced with regard to use and administering by the CDC. These guidelines we’re aimed towards primary care specialists and the greatest amount of unjustified prescriptions for opioids were noted in that area.
Winding Down
Those who once relied greatly on opioids are now looking at alternatives that can get the job done, are legally and medically approved, and produce less harmful side effects. At the same time opioid use for pain reduction is still recommended in certain acute cases but for the most part is withheld when it comes to addressing chronic pain!
In any case – the world of medicine is slowly changing and evolving and as practitioners, so are we!
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