In an opiate-based world for treating pain, how do you treat pain without opioids? As the opioid overdose epidemic worsens around the world, health practitioners are looking for alternative treatments for pain. For chronic pain patients who rely upon opioid based medications to provide them pain relief, the sudden governmental campaign against opioid use is detrimental. Chronic pain patients are rightfully frightened to lose their sense of security and relief during the day. Not every person who takes opioids will end up abusing them. Even when abused, not everyone who abuses a substance becomes addicted. some doctors argue it is heinous to take opioid medication or limit opioid medication availability to patients who do not abuse the drugs. Others are encouraging the scientific community to more research in an effort to prove opioid medications are not, and never have been, necessary.
Medication Assisted Therapy
The treatment industry for mental health rehabilitation and substance abuse rehabilitation faces the same argument. Medication assisted therapy or drug substitution therapy uses prescription medications which still have trace amounts of morphine- or- cause an opioid-like effect. While some argue that taking a pill is better than, say, shooting up heroin, others argue that the ongoing presence of opioid substance in the body is harmful. Treatment for opioid addiction includes a vast variety of methods and modalities of care. From traditional talk therapy to innovative biofeedback, mental health practitioners and scientists have collaborated to find what works best to end the life threatening chemical dependency on opioids.
Mindfulness Alternative
Mindfulness meditation is one of the alternative methods used to treat addiction. It has even been suggested to show significant results of symptom reduction in chronic pain patients. As the struggle to find opioid-free pain relief treatments carries on, mindfulness meditation poses itself as a considerable candidate. Recent research published in the Journal of Neuroscience discovered that in patients whose opioid receptors were actively being blocked and those whose were not- the daily practice of meditation reduced pain by over 20%. 20% less pain in chronic pain patients is an astonishing accomplishment. Chronic pain patients are not the only population who benefit from this finding. Withdrawal from opioid drugs is painful, causing muscle aches, spasming, weakness, discomfort, and even the feeling of brittle bones. Mindful meditation can support the withdrawal from opioids both on a neuroscientific level and on a basic physiological one.
Enlightened Recovery is a unique treatment center offering a hybrid approach to the rehabilitation of men and women from addiction to drugs and alcohol. Combining holistic healing and spiritual methods with traditional twelve step philosophy and progressive scientifically backed treatment methods, Enlightened Recovery provides an integrative approach to treatment. For more information on our programs, call 833-801-5483.