Is Pain Medication Blocking Your Ability To Heal & Feel Better?
Using pain medication over an extended period of time can mask symptoms and may prevent effective healing. Chiropractic care offers natural pain relief and can help address underlying musculoskeletal issues, reducing the need for long-term pain medication use. Learn more about the benefits of chiropractic care for pain management.
Have you ever asked yourself: “Why am I not getting better?”
The answer may be because you are on pain medication.
In many cases, patients with chronic pain visit a chiropractor because they are not getting better using traditional medicine methods.
The good news is that Dr. Llaird Likens can help you even if you’ve been on medication for your pain for a while.
In order to feel better, we must understand that pain medications can keep you from getting better for three reasons:
- Certain pain medications can slow the healing process
- Pain medications treat the symptom of pain, not the cause of pain
- Pain medication can mask the actual problem, allowing it to get worse
How pain medications can slow the healing process
Did you know your body uses inflammation in the healing process? Yes, inflammation is part of the body’s first aid kit. Inflammation is the process of the body expanding the blood capillaries in order to increase the blood flow which circulates important immune system cells like antibodies, proteins and other fluids straight to the injury. This swelling at the site of the injury also protects the damaged tissues as they heal.
Unfortunately, most pain medications are anti-inflammatory. That means they may mask the pain or make you feel better in the moment, but they can delay the chances and the process of healing your injury all together.
Why pain medications are not the answer for long-term pain relief
If the pain medication is masking the actual pain, you can see how it can be nearly impossible to actually solve the problem causing the pain. If you do not heal the problem causing the pain today, you’re certainly unable to stop the pain that comes tomorrow.
How pain medications may be leading to more pain
When pain medications block the symptom of pain, you may not feel when your injury becomes worse. You might move or stretch in a way that aggravates the problem causing your pain, making it worse. Overtime, your injury can compound into something terrible because you have never dealt with whatever is causing it in the first place.
Additionally, as an injury or source of pain goes untreated, it can have domino effects in related or nearby muscles, bones and joints causing even more pain.
Fortunately, chiropractic care is a great option when you’re feeling pain, particularly when it comes to muscle, bone or joint pain. Chiropractors are a great option for patients on pain medication because of two reasons:
- They are uniquely suited to discover the root of the pain
- Their remedies and solutions are non-invasive and do not require medication or surgery
Why you should see a chiropractor if you’re on pain medication
If you’ve been on pain medication for quite some time but not feeling any better, you should consider seeing a chiropractor. Chiropractors look for the root cause of pain in order to prescribe treatment options.
Many times chronic muscle or joint pain is caused by a misalignment in the spine. That misalignment can have a number of domino effects that cause imbalance, pain and stress on your body. In fact, Dr. Likens can often tell exactly where you’re feeling pain by your posture.
When you come in to see Dr. Likens, you’ll have a full exam and he will root out the cause of your pain and also explain what is going on with your body to you. Many patients find this to be quite the relief because it may be the first time someone has truly understood how and why they are suffering.
Let your body heal naturally
By finding the root cause of your pain, a chiropractor is able to eventually stop the pain at the source and patients will often wean themselves off of pain medication altogether. Only by stopping the source of pain can you potentially end the pain altogether.
After finding the root cause of your problem, Dr. Likens has a variety of therapies he can apply to treat your particular injury or problem area. Those treatments can include manual manipulation, massage, acupuncture, strength exercises, stretches and more. Patients often receive a combination of these treatment types as part of their overall wellness plan.
Sometimes these treatments last for a few weeks or months and sometimes they need to be applied over a lifetime. Because the treatments are natural and non-invasive, many patients choose them over a life sentence to pain medication.
If you have been taking pain medications but have not seen your health or injury improve, give Dr. Llaird Likens a call. Dr. Likens has been treating residents and visitors of Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Midway or Mary Esthe for 18 years and looks forward to the opportunity to help you feel better.
