Pain Relief Basics: Pain and Pain management

Do you know pain not only creates uneasiness or irritation in your body but it also affects your overall health and lifestyle? If you consider pain as just a feeling of discomfort, you’re wrong. It may cause mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. The severity of pain is the best indicator that helps your doctor to identify the cause of pain and recommend the most effective treatment for pain management and pain relief.

On the basis of severity, pain can be defined into two types. First is acute pain which occurs suddenly and lasts for a few days or weeks. It also can be rested and relieved within a few weeks. The second one avoids chronic pain. It is categorized as chronic because it usually lasts for more than three months. 

Several pain relief and pain management strategies can be applied at home. You can also use prescription or over-the-counter medication for pain relief. Overnight pain relief is not possible but it happens in fact. In addition, pain symptoms and duration varies person to person. Everyone has unique symptoms and severity of pain. And everyone needs a unique type of treatment for pain relief. People often rely on temporary sources of pain relief and don’t pay attention to the origin of pain. If you want to relieve your pain completely and permanently, you have to identify the actual cause of pain. Your doctor or healthcare professional can help you to identify the origin of pain. Describing all the symptoms and severity of pain can help your doctor to recognize the source of pain. Then, they may help you in pain relief by suggesting an effective treatment option like medication or something else.

Types of Pain

The basic types of pain are:

• Nociceptive pains.
• Neuropathic pains.

Nociceptive Pains: These pains appear as a response of your nervous system that activates to protect your body. This system snakes your body systems alert and compels you to pull your hand back from a hot stove, so that you may not get burned. An injured joint forces you to take rest and avoid walking so that your pain may be relieved.

Neuropathic Pains: These pains have no clear benefit. These pains originate due to misreading or miscommunication of messages sent from your nerves to your brain. A damaged nerve can also be a cause of this type of pain. Faulty signals from your damaged nerves are interpreted as pain by your central nervous system. 

Most common neuropathic pains include:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Postherpetic neuralgia.
• Diabetic neuropathy.

Knowing the exact source of pain can help you select  the best method for pain re;lief.

When Do You Need Medical Help for Pain Relief?

Every pain doesn’t need a visit to a clinic or hospital. Many of them can be handled at home. But you must see your doctor if your pain:

• Makes it difficult for you to sleep  and relax.
• Persistent for 3-4 weeks constantly.
• Doesn’t show improvement after applying common strategies of pain relief.
• Creates a hurdle in performing your daily chores or exercise.
• Causes mental health conditions, like anxiety, depression, stress or panic attacks.

You can find several types of pain relief and pain management methods. So don’t live with chronic pain as it not only affects your physical health but also harms you emotionally.

1-Over-the-Counter Medications

A number of over-the-counter (OTC) medications are available in the market. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription for using these medications. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen are the common examples of such OTC medications. 

As the name shows, NSAIDs are the most effective medications to block COX-1 and COX-2 substances. These medications block these inflammatory substances to relieve pain related to inflammation. Moreover, these medications also can relieve:

• Menstrual pain.
• Arthritis.
• Muscle ache.
• Minor injuries like sprains.
• Headache.
• Backache.

Common examples of effective NSAIDs are:

• Naproxen.
• Aspirin.
• Ibuprofen.

Always remember that you cannot use these medications in excess quantities as their excessive consumption is associated with side effects. Take the amount prescribed in the package of medication.This measure can protect you  from any side effect of the medication. Some of the side effects are:

• Stomach pain and ulcer.
• Kidney disease.
• Excessive bleeding.

2-Prescription Drugs

All pain relievers are not available as OTC. Diclofenac is an example of a prescription drug. It is a type of NSAIDs which only can be availed after the prescription from a certified doctor. Other prescription drugs include selective COX-2, and celebrex that are used to treat pain caused by inflammatory agents. 

In addition, stronger opioid drugs, including oxycodone, are effective for pain relief caused after a severe injury or surgery. These drugs are extracted from illicit drug opium. They help relieve pain but if used too much can cause a euphoric effect.This means they are addictive and can cause serious harm. Their use is risky because they create a fake pleasurable feeling that you doses don’t work and you may need higher doses to achieve that pleasure and relaxation. Therefore, healthcare professionals always prefer to prescribe such drugs in small quantities. Their use with caution can protect you from their addictiveness. 

Most Addictive Prescription Drugs

Corticosteroids

These drugs are anti-inflammatory and suppress your immune system’s inflammatory response to reduce or manage the pain. Some of them are also known as asteroids. Doctors often prescribe steroids to relieve pain. Steroids also can cause inflammatory conditions and pains such as inflammatory arthritis. Its common examples are:

• Prednisolone.
• Hydrocortisone.
• Prednisone.
• Methylprednisolone.

These drugs are also associated with certain side effects, including:

• Higher levels of blood sugar.
• Increased risk of infections.
• Osteoporosis.
• Sudan weight gain.
• Fluid retention.
• Difficulty sleeping.
• Mood swings.

You can avoid the side effects of these drugs by taking lighter duties for the shortest period of time. Avoid taking any other steroid drug while already taking a corticosteroid drug. This may help you prevent injurious side effects of addictive drugs.

Opioids

Opioids are stronger pain relievers. They are extracted from poppy plants but some are also prepared artificially in the laboratory. The opioids prepared chemically in the laboratory are also known as synthetic opioids. In most cases after surgery, doctors prescribe opioids to relieve pain. People also take them to relieve chronic pain because they can be used for longer periods of time. Such medications are formulated through two basic formula methods known as immediate-release and extended-release. Doctors often recommend a combination of opioids with any other pain reliever like acetaminophen to increase the effect for pain relief. 

Common medicinal products, containing opioids include:

• Tramadol.
• Oxycodone.
• Buprenorphine.
• Hydromorphione.
• Fentanyl.
• Oxymorphone.
• Meperidine.
• Hydrocodone-acetaminophine.

Opioids are the most five sources of pain relief methods but these are also highly addictive. Overdosing or misuse can cause death. 

Other side effects of excessive use of opioids, include:

• Nausea.
• Constipation.
• Drowsiness.
• Confusion.
• Substance use disorder.
• Overdose that often leads to death.
• Impaired judgment.
• Slower breathing rate that often leads to serious fatal conditions like coma, death, permanent brain damage.
• Low birth weight, withdrawal symptoms at birth and pregnancy loss.
• Increased risk of contracting infectious disease.

Therefore, following the doctor’s instructions while using these medicines is necessary to keep yourself protected from their side effects.

Antidepressants

Antidepressants are considered a good option for depression treatment but the thing that makes it more reliable and useful is its effectiveness for chronic pain relief. It also helps manage symptoms of certain serious conditions, including nerve damage and migraine. Although research has not succeeded to find out the reality and basic cause of effectiveness of antidepressants for pain relief, they are still being used as pain killers. The antidepressants actually affect the working of your spinal cord and brain. These drugs help increase the functioning of neurotransmitters also known as chemical messengers. That’s why they have effects on pain. 

Here are some common examples of antidepressants that doctors usually prescribe to relieve your pain:

• Serotonin nor epinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) lie venlafaxine and duloxetine.
• Paroxetine and fluoxetine which belong to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
• Desiparamine, imipramine and nortriptyline which belong to tricyclic antidepressants.

Certain side effects and complications related to use of antidepressants are jotted below:

• Difficulty sleeping.
• Constipation.
• Dry mouth.
• Drowsiness.
• Nausea.
• Dizziness.

Don’t ignore such side effects, they can cause damage to your overall health. Talk to your doctor, if the side effects remain persistent.

Anticonvulsants

Seizure treating option, anticonvulsants are also used for treating pain. This means anticonvulsants perform a double duty job. These drugs actually work to relieve nerve pain. Nerve pains originate when the nerves get damaged due to shingles or diabetes. Another testing for nerve pains is oversanitization of nerves, such as fibromyalgia. All these conditions make nerves overreacting leading to transmission of continuous and abnormal pain signals to the brain and spinal cord. The actual cause of effectiveness of anticonvulsants for nerve pain is still unknown. Studies just suggest that anticonvulsant drugs can help block abnormally originated pain signals between the brain, spinal cord and damaged nerves. 

Commission types used as anticonvulsants are:

• Pegabalin.
• Carbamazepaine.
• Phenytoin.
• Gabapentin.

Side effects of these drugs include:

• Confusion.
• Lightheadedness.
• Drowsiness.
• Headache.
• Dizziness.
• Vomiting and nausea.
• Excess of suicidal thoughts.

Among all these side effects the suicidal thoughts are the most dangerous because they increase the risk pf death. When you’re taking the drugs, go to your doctor for a detailed checkup regularly. So that they may monitor your future effects and guide you about their remedy.

Cannabidiol (CBD)

Using cannabis during relief is a very old method. People had been using cannabis for thousands of years to relieve their pains. Modern research has also found that cannabis contains many ingredients that can help relieve pain. Its chemical found in cannabis plants, cannabidiol (CBD) is considered responsible for treating chronic pains. Another advantageous aspect of this chemical is it doesn’t get you high. It means it is a non-euphoric and non-impairing drug. So if you want to have benefits from potential pain-relieving impacts of cannabis, you can rely on cannabidiol drugs. 

Research explains that when a malignant disease causes pain in you, CBD alters the activity of endocannabidiol receptors in your body and nervous system. This step potential helps in reducing pain and inflammation. 

In addition, one more study has concluded that CBD when injected in animals they respond as a relief in pain. This study also proves that CBD is as useful for animals as in humans. It not only reduces pain but also helps lessen the inflammation in your sciatic nerve. Researchers are also trying to study the combined effects of CBD with tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC), which is known as a major psychoactive component of cannabis. 

Moreover, many studies found that in humans injecting cannabis as a nasal spray with a combination of THC in one-to-one ratio can help reduce chronic neuropathic pain. However, more evidence is needed to verify the potential benefits of CBD on pain relief and pain management.

Aside effects of CBND include:

• Changes in weight and appetite.
• Potential and harmful interaction with other medications.
• Diarrhea.
• Fatigue.
• Nausea.

To ensure your safety and limit the side effects, talking to your doctor before using CBD is a good thing. Also make sure that you have a complete knowledge about potential interactions of CBD.

Conclusion

Latest studies have shown that chronic pain and its complications are the major health issues nowadays. It is the most common ailment that a large number of people experience around the world. Adults, especially, often see their doctors to find out the treatment option for pain relief. Although chronic pains can be easily treated with pain-relieving drugs that are also available as OTC., most of them are euphoric and addictive. So it is suggested to work with your doctor while deciding the best one for your pain relief. All types of drugs that are popular for pain management should be used with the prescription of a certified doctor. Because they have serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects. Studies also suggest that you can also add exercise, yoga and healthy lifestyle changes to ease your chronic pains. These interventions also are free from side effects.