Physical
therapists Steven Hunter and Laura Hayes teach an unidentified patient lumbar
stabilization exercises at the Equal Access Clinic in Gainesville,
Florida. Maria Belen Farias, UF Health Photography, CC BY-SAMark Bishop, University of
Florida
Physical
therapists help people walk again after a stroke and recover after injury or
surgery, but did you know they also prevent exposure to opioids?
This is timely, given we are in a public health
emergency related to an opioid crisis.
Many people
addicted to opioids are first exposed through
a medical prescription for pain. Opiate-based drugs provide relief for acute
conditions, such as post-surgical pain.
Unfortunately, the
effectiveness of opioids decreases after time, requiring higher doses of the drug for the same
effects and, perhaps counter-intuitively, worsening pain in some people.
Many people progress from this prescription to other opiate derivatives,
including heroin and fentanyl. As a result, a growing emphasis has been placed
on nonpharmacological alternatives to opioids.
I am a physical
therapist and I have studied non-pharmacological methods of preventing the
transition from acute to chronic pain. It’s an exciting time for the field,
because practice and research are showing that physical therapy could diminish
the need for opioids, and thus lower the risk of addiction.
Related Posts:-
Reducing initial
exposures to opioids
Part of the
proposed solution to the opioid crisis is to limit new opioid exposures.
Physical therapists are an important part of this process. And it is not just
physical therapists who are saying this.
Mindy
Miller/University of Florida Photography, CC BY-SA
A letter to
the president from the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the
Opioid Crisis stated, “individuals with acute or chronic pain must have access
to non-opioid pain management options. Everything from physical therapy, to
non-opioid medications, should be easily accessible as an alternative to
opioids.” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams echoed this call for
alternative treatments, including physical therapists.
The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention also issued prescribing guidelines in
2016 that recommend physical therapists be considered a first-line treatment
for people with chronic pain conditions.
Research supports
these positions, including research papers studying opioid use for common
musculoskeletal pain conditions like back, knee and neck
pain.
Reference
Reference
These studies show
quite convincingly that the probability of receiving a prescription for opioids
is 89 percent lower for people seeing a physical therapist for pain.
Seeing the physical therapist sooner, rather than later, makes this protective
effect even greater.
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