Don’t Join the Opioid Epidemic. How Physical Therapy Helps Ditch the Pain Meds.

10 Mar Don’t Join the Opioid Epidemic. How Physical Therapy Helps Ditch the Pain Meds.

Instead of turning to pain medication to mask the pain, look to physical therapy to really feel like your old self again.

A sudden injury or accident can turn a normal life totally upside-down. Whether it is a car accident, a slip and fall, or even a workplace injury, once an injury happens, it is difficult to stop the pain from driving you insane. The pain can prevent you from engaging in your everyday life as you once did, leaving you feeling incompetent or unreliable, and this can have emotional as well as financial consequences that can compound the pain and difficulty associated with your injury.

Many people turn to pain management to help them overcome these difficulties, but turning to opioids for pain relief has a whole world of its own consequences that you need to be aware of if you hope to have your life return to normal. Opioid dependency is quickly rising to be one of the number one health concerns in the United States, for natural relief call Park Avenue Physical Therapy.

The Facts About Pain Medication

Most people have turned to over-the-counter medications to help ease pain before. Medications like Advil and Tylenol are mild and don’t pose much of a significant health risk — especially when used in moderation and under the guidance and supervision of your physician. But when pain becomes more severe, such as is often the case following an injury or accident, the medications that are used to treat the pain become more severe as well. Opioids are the most frequent medication used to treat pain in the United States, and they are highly addictive and destructive to your health.

Here are a few facts about pain medications that might surprise you:

• Opioids are a highly dangerous class of substances that include heroin, as well as prescription pain relievers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and others.
• Opioids are a highly addictive substance and are the most commonly abused prescription medication.
• More than 2 million people in the United States become addicted to pain medication every year.
• About a quarter of heroin addicts began their addiction through prescription opioid dependency.

These are frightening figures that cannot be ignored, and they paint a bleak picture regarding prescription pain medication use. Many experts say that opioid addiction has reached an epidemic in the United States. What’s worse: The vast majority of people who become dependent on pain medications are not those who would have ever thought they’d face a problem with addiction. The opioid epidemic is filled with regular people who started off with jobs and families, who were responsible and made good choices, until the pain became unbearable and the medication became addictive.

A Healthier Solution: Physical Therapy

Physical therapy provides an alternative solution to ongoing pain management with opioid medications. A type of natural treatment, physical therapy is not the same as a pill. It isn’t going to mask the pain or provide immediate relief. What it can do, however, is provide you with the ability to actually overcome your pain by developing strength, improving your range of motion, and ultimately giving you the ability to overcome the cause of your pain with regular guidance and support from an experienced physical therapist.

Physical therapy is typically recommended following surgical repair or recovery. The therapy is specialized to your needs, so you will receive instructions and guidance that pertain to your precise injury as well as to your strength level and personal goals. In time, physical therapy can help you rebuild strength and actually heal from an injury.

Rather than hide behind another pain med, make the choice to actually do something about your pain. Contact Park Ave Physical Therapy Huntington, NY to find out if physical therapy can help address your pain.