Pain is normally temporary, but you might be experiencing ongoing pain with little relief. Chronic pain can interfere with many daily activities and cause additional physical, mental, and emotional problems. If chronic pain has dominated much of your life, here are a few treatment options that a health care provider may advise you to try.
Pain Medications
Pain medications often work well and can offer a simple way to treat chronic pain, and your doctor will give you the information that's needed to determine if this treatment is right for you. Many doctors nowadays are prescribing nonopioid medications to keep patients from becoming addicted to pain medicine. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often prescribed to treat chronic pain that's accompanied by swelling and inflammation. Topical medications, such as lidocaine and capsaicin, have also helped many people relieve their suffering.
Trigger Point Targeting
Trigger points are certain spots on the body from where the pain originates, and this pain can become widespread throughout the body. Trained medical professionals can often identify these trigger points and treat these specific areas so that the pain can be stopped at its point of origin so that the painful sensations will stop spreading. Steroids or numbing agents may be injected into these trigger points to alleviate the pain. Acupuncture and acupressure are other treatments that can target trigger points and elicit natural pain relief.
Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
This treatment utilizes electric currents to disrupt the delivery of pain signals along certain nerves. The electric currents are set at a low voltage to ensure safety and minimal discomfort during treatment. Pads that are attached to a controller device are placed on specific parts of the body to deliver the electric currents. In addition to disrupting pain signals, the electric currents can increase the body's natural endorphins that act as natural pain relievers and can reduce chronic pain even more.
Nerve Ablation
Sometimes, the best way to stop pain signals from being sent by certain nerves is to destroy or remove the nerves themselves. Nerve ablation is performed with a medical device that's surgically implanted beneath the skin after a local anesthetic has been used to numb pain during the procedure. The device is able to target and destroy or remove the specific nerves that are sending pain signals.
No matter the cause of your chronic pain, your suffering may be relieved entirely or at least reduced substantially with the right treatment. Talk to a trusted health care provider to discuss the treatment options that may put an end to your chronic pain for good.
For more information on how to treat chronic pain, contact a professional near you.
Share24 February 2022
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