Easing pain without opioids?
Specialists are finding ways.
It’s no secret that Palm Beach County is among the nation’s areas most affected by the opioid crisis.
While there are many contributing factors, the reason most people become addicted to, or overdose from opioids is pain —asin the need to relieve it.
To combat both opioid dependence and chronic pain, an increasing number of physicians are now specializing in the growing field of interventional pain management.
Interventional pain management specialists — many of whom are anesthesiologists — use nonnarcotic protocols to target the spots where patients are feeling pain, and then block the pain signals from traveling to the area.
This can be done in a variety of ways: injections, nerve blocks, topical and oral medications, and minimally invasive, outpatient surgical procedures.
Dr. Alejandro Tapia, an interventional pain management specialist and head of recently opened Physician Partners of America Florida Pain Relief Group in Boynton Beach and Wellington, explained that “interventional pain management prevents addiction to narcotic pain medication.”
Other forms of non- or minimally invasive pain relief protocols include plateletrich plasma (PRP) injections, laser therapy and different accupressure and massage techniques.
With PRP, a patient’s blood is drawn, spun through a special centrifuge machine that separates and concentrates platelets and growth factors, and is then injected directly into the painful area. Proponents believe that PRP helps speed the healing of injured or damaged tissue.
High-intensity laser therapy is also believed by some to promote soft-tissue healing. Laser treatments are totally noninvasive and last anywhere from a few minutes to up to an hour.
A recently FDA-cleared device called the NIP Procedure (NIP standing for “noninvasive pain”) uses a microchip device and tiny accupunture needles placed strategically behind the patient’s ear. The device’s technology transmits a flow of signals to the patient for as long as they are “wearing” the device (usually four or five days). Advocates claim that wearing the device is the equivalent of receiving around-the-clock acupuncture treatment.
For those suffering from chronic pain, these are just a few of the treatment options available that don’t include opioid medication.