A stunning and somewhat reassuring study has been released that shows that when it comes to pain care, facilities like Summa Pain Care are starting to make a real difference in the lives of our patients and are taking a pretty big bite out of America’s opioid problem. The study published by JAMA Network open in a research letter reported by Medscape tells us that “55% of adults with chronic pain used pain management techniques that did not involve any opioids at all during the prior 3-month period.”

Here’s the breakdown:

Approximately 50.2 million American adults experience chronic pain the survey explains. There were a total of 31,916 survey respondents, 64% were women; 69% were non-Hispanic White, 13% Hispanic, and 11% non-Hispanic Black; 71% were between 18 and 64 years of age, and 29% were 65 and older.

The most impactful finding was that 55% of adults with chronic pain only chose to use non-opioid pain management techniques, whereas 11% used opioids supplemented with other techniques. Only about 4% of respondents used opioids exclusively. Sadly, 30% reported taking no efforts to manage their pain in the previous three months, choosing rather to ‘grin and bear it’. Surprisingly few patients engaged in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which has also demonstrated some effectiveness as well.

According to MedScape,

“Complementary therapies were the most commonly used non-opioid pain management technique (by 35% of adults with chronic pain), followed by physical, occupational, or rehabilitative therapies (19%).

Only about 4% of adults with chronic pain used CBT.

Other techniques used included self-management programs (5%) and chronic pain peer support groups (2%). In addition, 39% of adults with chronic pain reported using other pain approaches not specifically captured in the data set.”

Interestingly, finances were a key indicator of whether or not opioids would be used with opioid use was less common among adults making $100,000 or more annually vs those making less than $35,000 a year (9% vs 20%).

The principle investigators Cornelius B. Groenewald, MB, ChBCaitlin B. Murray, PhD; and Marco Battaglia, MD concluded that “While effective for some, opioids prescribed for chronic pain management remain an important determinant of the national opioid crisis,”.

The study “provides baseline information on opioid and non-opioid pain management techniques used for chronic pain and serves as a benchmark for evaluating the outcome of health care policies aimed at reducing prescription opioid use,” they added.

Summa Pain Care and other clinics like it offer a wide variety of treatment alternatives to Opioid pain management that range from Platelet rich plasma injection, amnioflow, Viscosupplementation, radiofrequency ablation, kyphoplasty, intradiscal-prp, intracept, there are literally dozens of different treatment options and techniques that have never been so accessible before! Like Spinal Cord, Dorsal Root Ganglion or Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Trial and Implants, Discography with Intradiscal Platelet Rich Plasma, Vertiflex or Sacroiliac Joint Intervention: Block, Injection, Ablation or Fusion.

It is through these methods that clinics like Summa Pain Care battle back against prescription drug abuse while providing the pain management and care that our patients need, freeing them from an addiction brought on by pain, and in some cases from the pain of addiction. The first step in this process is usually easing the pain that put a patient in such a position in the first place.

Summa Pain Care’s mission in this area is to handle the physical pain, give patients that sigh of relief, that break in the onslaught to allow psychological treatment to progress. In some extreme situations a mental health evaluation needs to come first. But the vast majority of people, just need to get out of pain and the rest can follow naturally.

No matter where your pain originates from: Back pain, neck pain, head pain, limbic or neurological issues related to MS or Cancer or other chronic illnesses, there is always hope, and it doesn’t have to come in the form of a bottle or a pill, there’s always another way and Summa Pain Care can help get you there.

As the premier pain management specialists in Arizona Summa Pain Care,

  • Performs specialized tests for diagnosing your chronic pain conditions.
  • Appropriately prescribes and/or manages medications to any unique conditions at varying levels of severity. Also help reduce or eliminate your prescription pain medications.

Find your nearest Summa Pain Care location in Peoria, Phoenix or North Scottsdale today and don’t put this off any longer. Unaddressed pain generally doesn’t improve, and the benefits of getting back into the gym and exercising far outweigh the costs.Call our Phoenix location at 623.580.4357 , you can reach Peoria at 623.776.8686 or contact us in North Scottsdale at 480.786.1771.

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