Morphine. Codeine. Oxycodone. These are just a few of many well-known pain medications prescribed for patients suffering with debilitating pain. They are opioids, narcotics. Highly addictive. Dangerous even. The public has learned a lot over the years, through various news channels, about the risks that come with taking these medications.

Patients suffering with serious chronic low back pain or neck pain are likely to ask their doctors for prescription painkillers to help them manage. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) recently issued a statement — the risks associated with taking narcotic pain medications seem to outweigh the benefits. Hopefully patients and doctors will pause before securing the next prescription.

“The risk of death, overdose, addiction, or serious side effects with prescription opioids outweigh the benefits in chronic, non-cancer conditions such as headache, fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain. *

More than 100,000 people have died from prescription opioid use since the late 1990s, according to the AAN. And there have been more deaths in young to middle-aged groups from prescription opioids than from firearms and car accidents.

Addiction is a serious problem. Studies show that fifty percent of patients who take opioids for at least three months are still on opioids five years later. And while opioids may provide significant short-term pain relief, there is no substantial evidence that medication successfully maintains pain relief or improves function over long periods of time without serious risk of overdose, dependence or addiction.

Alternatives to Pain Medication

Alternative pain management options are available. Back Clinics of Canada in particular offers a multi-pronged approach to care for painful back conditions like bulging/herniated discs, sciatica, spinal arthritis, spinal stenosis and facet syndrome. What makes this care different is that it is designed to target and promote healing of the root cause of patients’ pain. It’s called the High Performance Healing System^TM.

This system, developed by Dr. Nusbaum, delivers patient-specific targeted healing for true, lasting pain relief. One side effect of our care – many Back Clinics of Canada patients have successfully stopped taking their pain medication (from canadian pharmacy) altogether.

The High Performance Healing System^TM offers benefits without any risks.

* American Academy of Neurology, September 30, 2014. http://www.newswise.com/articles/aan-risks-of-opioids-outweigh-benefits-for-headache-low-back-pain-other-conditions