In Search of the Quick Fix

By Dr. Steven Warfield

It is said that “Time is Money.”  In our fast paced modern society getting things done in a hurry is practically written into our DNA.  So when something comes along that threatens to derail our faced paced lives, be it a strain, sprain, backache or headache, we are in a hurry to find a quick fix.  For many of us this translates to reaching for the nearest bottle of pain pills in the medicine cabinet.  While many analgesics make the pain go away temporarily, what most people don’t realize is that by masking the pain, this can cause the injury to take much longer to correct.  In fact, covering up the pain and going about your normal routine may even create additional injury, the kind that can cost you lost days at work.

Another fact that most people fail to take into consideration is that overmedication, be it a prescription pain killer or plain aspirin is responsible for more harm than good.  According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, “In 1998 statistics showed that there were 14,253 toxic cases involving aspirin without being combined with other drugs.  Of those, 5,363 occurred in children between the ages of 6 and 19. Included in the total were 33 deaths related to aspirin toxicity.” http://blog.drugrehab101.com/2009/08/aspirin-effects.html

When toxicity occurs from aspirin, the following aspirin side effects may occur:

• Chronic ingestion may create anxiety.
• Various respiratory effects, from hyperventilation to respiratory arrest.
• Ear problems can also occur.
• Seizures are possible.
• Many gastrointestinal effects, including most often nausea and vomiting, but also hemorrhage and pancreatitis.
• When elderly people use aspirin to control pain, the increasing amount may create a state of confusion, which may lead to increased consumption.

We’re talking aspirin here which is available over the counter.  Acetaminophen overdose (acetaminophen 

being the active ingredient in Tylenol) is the leading cause for calls to poison control centers, accounting for 56,000 emergency room visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and an estimated 458 deaths due to acute liver failure each year. If you want to see some truly frightening statistics, take a look at prescription pain killers, many of which are known to lead to physical dependency.  Opioid dependence affects some 5 million Americans and leads to approximately 17,000 deaths per year.  These statistics were so pervasive that it caused the federal government to change the regulations for the prescription of certain classes of pain killers.

In September 2013, the FDA announced that extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioid pain relievers will no longer be indicated for merely moderate pain. The labels for these analgesics previously stated that they were indicated for moderate-to-severe pain. Now, the labels indicate usage only for management of severe pain that requires daily, around-the-clock treatment because alternative treatments are inadequate. The labels will also include a warning stating that long-term maternal use of ER/LA opioid pain relievers can result in potentially fatal neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. These announcements were made in an effort to combat the epidemic of addiction and fatal overdoses associated with opioid abuse. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/287790-overview

Another factor that many people fail to heed is the fact that once hooked it is very difficult to resist the siren call of opioids.  Withdrawal symptoms can include any number of the following and can persist for days or even weeks.

·         diarrhea, persistent shivering, and nausea

·         insomnia, restlessness, tremors

·         abdominal cramping, bone pains, and muscle ache

To get through these debilitating symptoms many patients wind up undergoing methadone or buprenorphine treatment, followed by a gradual tapering off.   

Being a chiropractor has meant that I have had many patients come to me who believed that they were unable to function without analgesics of some kind.  What I have been able to show most of them is that by treating  the underlying causes of pain it is possible to reduce and in many cases eliminate the use of pain pills altogether.  While treatment is an ongoing process that can take months to complete, what every one of them agrees is that when it comes to a quick fix, curing the underlying cause of their pain is worth taking the time to accomplish.

 Dr. Steven Warfield and Dr. Dave Edenfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://endyourpain.org and  http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com   who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.  

Making the Pain Go Away

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Living with pain is no easy task, especially if it reduces mobility or interferes with one’s livelihood.  Unfortunately for all too many people, chronic pain has become a way of life.  In order to get through the day, many people rely on painkillers to make the pain go away, if only for a few hours.  While a short term fix, these products only mask the problem.  They don’t alleviate the underlying issue.  Plus, the use of prescription pain killers can do more harm than good in the long run, causing the user to exacerbate the injury, become dependent upon painkillers or worse.

English: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia as seen from Emory University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A recent report by the Center for Disease Control stated that, “An unknown number of patients were given potentially contaminated steroid injections, with a rising number of those injected now showing symptoms of fungal meningitis, While no original source of the outbreak has been 

found, the CDC has determined that all infected patients identified thus far have received preservative-free (PF) methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) from among the three lots voluntarily recalled by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, on September 26, 2012."

While the threat of tainted medications is bothersome to say the least, there is an even a bigger threat to public health, that is the fact that during the past twenty years the use of prescription painkillers has risen dramatically. 

Increase in U.S. Retail Drug Purchases, 1997-2005 (Amount Sold in Grams)
Drug	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	Change*
Oxycodone	4,449,559	9,717,597	19,947,287	26,655,149	30,628,971	588%
Methadone	518,736	965,389	1,893,322	3,683,878	5,362,813	934%
Fentanyl base	74,085	107,158	186,082	317,197	387,926	423%
Morphine	5,922,870	6,804,933	8,810,755	12,303,954	15,054,842	154%
Hydrocodone	8,699,309	12,102,623	15,597,209	21,106,646	25,803,541	197%
Hydromorphone	241,806	292,585	400,639	579,370	781,284	224%
Source: Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders System. Revised Aug. 1, 2007.  * Percentage change in amounts sold from 1997 to 2005.

What most people do not realize is that the best route to reducing or eliminating pain in their daily lives is to treat the problem and not the symptoms.  Masking the pain can lead to even greater damage that could ultimately lead to a surgical solution.  However, there are non-surgical chiropractic treatments that can both reduce discomfort while working to reduce or even correct the underlying causes of chronic pain. 

Chiropractic treatments typically focus on, but are not limited to, care of:

·         Mid and lower back pain

·         Neck pain

·         Joint pain in the arms and legs

·         Headaches

@chiropractic I Voted (Photo credit: planetc1)

Chiropractors typically treat conditions involving back pain and/or neck pain through “hands-on” adjustments of the spine and surrounding structures.  They believe that as a result of overuse the spinal column can become stressed.  This results in imbalances that can lead to pain, dysfunction and disease. 

 Employing spinal manipulation along with other proven forms of therapy, chiropractors can also bring other tools to bear to alleviate pain, such as electric muscle stimulation, ultrasound and even laser therapy. 

Laser Therapy uses red and infrared light for the relief of pain, to accelerate healing and decrease inflammation. When the light source is placed against the skin, the photons penetrate several centimeters and get absorbed by the mitochondria, the energy producing part of a cell. This energy fuels many positive physiological responses resulting in the restoration of normal cell morphology and function.  Unlike many physical therapy treatments that mask pain or only address the symptoms of disease, Laser Therapy treats the underlying condition to promote healing. This means that the treatments are effective and the benefits of laser Therapy are long lasting.

If you or someone you know is experiencing chronic pain, feel free to show them this blog and let them know that there are other remedies available that will do more to make the pain go away than simply using medications to mask the symptoms.  Through chiropractic care there is hope for long term pain relief.

Dr. Dave Edenfield is part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/who are dedicated to helping the public lead a healthy, pain-free life. 

Related articles

• Is Your Back Healing Ok?
• Get Straight: The Benefits of Chiropractic Care
• Headaches: Causes and Treatment
• Preventing Low Back Pain
• Low Back Pain and Subluxation