What to Do When Prescription Meds Aren’t Enough for Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is common enough that most of us either experience it ourselves or know someone who does. Fortunately, most cases of chronic pain are manageable to one degree or another. But there are exceptions to the rule. There are patients whose pain is severe enough to be debilitating. Not even prescription meds are enough to provide relief.
What can a patient in such circumstances do? There are alternatives to prescription medications. Some of them are utilized separately while others are offered as a compliment to medications already being taken. The most important thing to note is that there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for chronic pain.
Physical and Occupational Therapy
Two alternatives to prescription medications are physical and occupational therapy. Physical therapy is designed to strengthen weak muscles and joints by way of strategic exercises. How does this help?
People experiencing chronic pain are often reluctant to exercise. It is understandable. Exercise only causes more pain. But failing to exercise means allowing muscles and joints to weaken. And as they weaken, they are less able to properly support the body. Guess what happens? In many cases, chronic pain gets worse. Physical therapy can reverse things enough to help reduce the pain to some degree.
Occupational therapy is designed to teach patients how to do things differently. Patients can learn new ways of doing just about everything, ways that minimize pain and the stress it causes on the body.
Plant-Based Medicines
Another alternative to prescription medications is plant-based medicine. Note that plant-based medicine has been around for millennia. We have plenty of historical evidence supporting its existence in ancient China, Africa, etc.
Plant-based medicine is now popular enough that clinics specializing in it are starting to pop up. Utah’s Primary Care Clinic KindlyMD is one example. KindlyMD.com actually operates multiple clinics in the Beehive State. Among their list of services is assistance with obtaining a Utah Medical Card. The card gives a patient legal access to plant-based medicines that are otherwise off limits.
Of course, there are plenty of plants and plant extracts that can be used medicinally without the need for a state-issued medical card. Holistic and plant-based practitioners are intimately familiar with them. They are the ones most qualified to recommend their proper use.
Non-Medicinal Therapies
When prescription medications do not work and patients are wary of plant-based medicines, there are a number of non-medical therapies worth looking into. Most of them have their roots in traditional eastern medicine. For example, consider sound healing.
Sound healing is an ancient practice that was nearly forgotten in the West until the 1960s. It is a practice that relies on sound waves bathing the body to promote healing. Some practitioners claim that sound healing has a direct impact on tissue by way of frequency vibration. They say it can be utilized to minimize pain.
Another ancient practice that is more common in the West is acupuncture. Acupuncture is a treatment designed to manipulate natural energy within the body through the insertion of thin needles at key points in the skin. It is believed that acupuncture can realign energy for all sorts of health benefits.
No Shortage of Options
By now it should be clear that there is no shortage of options available to chronic pain patients who cannot find adequate relief with prescription medications. If you suffer from chronic pain, do not dismiss these alternatives simply because they are not promoted by our healthcare system. Western medicine is not the be-all and end-all of all things medical. At least consider the alternatives and how they might help you start feeling better.