We have about ten
to twelve million Americans
who have been put
on long-term opioids.
The best available evidence
is telling us that
they're not doing well.
Many have had a decline
in their function
and their pain has
not improved.
Maybe their pain
has gotten worse.
So very, very high doses
of opiates
can actually produce pain.
So instead of
making pain better,
they actually make pain worse.
Most common chronic pain
conditions that are currently
treated with opiates
probably shouldn't be treated
with opiates at all,
other than possibly
for three days
of an acute attack.
So, for example,
a back sprain injury.
Use opiates for three days,
get moving again,
and then stop completely,
just like the CDC recommends.
The question we're
often asked...
"If not opioids, what then?"
And we need, as physicians,
to have lots
of "what then" answers.
We know they do much better
with simple things
like exercise.
Yoga and acupuncture
and massage...
Behavioral, physical therapy.
Spiritual support
for a person
to renavigate their life,
uh, and to take control
over this sensation of pain.
You have to take care
of a complex problem
with a complex solution,
which is not gonna come
in the form of a pill.
