Herniated disc drugs are some of the most common treatment modalities offered to patients with acute and chronic back pain. While symptom management drugs might be humane and acceptable for temporary use, they are certainly not a good long-term solution, since they do absolutely nothing to resolve the underlying disc condition.
This important treatise will focus on pharmaceutical treatment of chronic pain. We will detail the substances utilized in care and their many risks. Every patient needs to understand that although drugs may be prescribed by a doctor, they can have very significant negative effects on overall health.
Herniated Disc Drugs for Pain
The average patient who complains of severe back, neck or sciatica pain will be given a moderate to powerful pain reliever by their doctor. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) drugs are widely used for symptomatic relief.
Conservative care practitioners might recommend trying non-prescription strength pain relievers first and typically advise using acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen sodium.
Many doctors will offer a far more powerful drug such as hydrocodone (Vicodin), naproxen (Naprosyn), oxycodone (Oxycontin), tramadol (Ultram) or Celecoxib (Celebrex) as a symptomatic pain treatment. Some doctors hand out scripts for these powerful meds like they were candy.
Herniated Disc Drugs / Muscle Relaxants
Muscle relaxants are also common prescribed, especially for patients who experience back spasms from their disc herniations.
The most common of these drugs are carisoprodol (Soma), metaxalone (Skelaxin) and cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride (Flexeril).
Muscle relaxants are often prescribed regardless of the absence of muscular spasms, which makes very little sense whatsoever.
Risks of Pharmaceutical Therapy for Chronic Disc Pain
All medications have known and unknown side effects. Drugs are generally bad for you and will cause unwanted health concerns in many patients. While some of these health issues might be minor, others can be life altering. Many back pain drugs demonstrate inherent risks for psychological and physical dependency. Prescription drug addiction is a huge problem and can lead to severe consequences in matters of health and social behaviors.
The potential benefits of pain drugs come at an especially high price, since these drugs can really take control of a patient even when used for a relatively short time span. It is in every patient’s best interest to only use drugs when absolutely necessary and cease using them ASAP.
There are alternative methods of pain relief which might work better for some herniated disc patients and will not put the user at such a high risk of suffering negative complications associated with prescription drug use.
Herniated Disc Drugs and Medical Ethics
There are many doctors who treat patients exclusively using pharmaceutical methods. These doctors seem to care less about what is actually best for the patient. They simply want to quickly prescribe a pill and move on to the next paying victim. In addition, these care providers rarely monitor their patients, allowing them to develop addictions instead of finding lasting herniated disc relief.
This type of medical practice should be avoided at all costs. Doctors who are content to treat symptoms, rather than curing conditions, do not care about their patients. They are merely taking the easy way out and maximizing their profit margins. These doctors have caused untold damage to society and have ruined countless lives with their unethical medical practices.
Of course, this is not to say that all doctors who prescribe drugs are doing something wrong. Pain management drugs have a definite place in the medical system and can be of great help to suffering patients when used appropriately.
Drugs are indicated for short term and closely monitored use for most patients and are acceptable for some patients with incurable and extreme chronic pain. The average back pain patient should not be given an unchecked supply of pills and then left to their own devices for self treatment.
Guidance on Bulging Disc Drugs
Throughout my 18 years of seeking treatment for my debilitating lower back pain, I was offered virtually every drug known to man. I tried a few, such as Vicodin, Flexeril and Naprosyn and received no relief from them.
One of my doctors in particular was more than content to keep providing pills and would gladly increase the dosage upon request. This is the type of doctor who will do far more damage than good. If this describes your doctor, you better run. Remember, pain relief can come at a high price; maybe even the ultimate price: Your life.
Drugs are dangerous and the constant news stories about newly discovered risks of many drugs should not be a shock to any patient. Vioxx and Bextra are 2 examples of drugs which were originally hailed as miraculous and turned out to be lethal to some patients.
To summarize this crucial article on back pain drugs, the best advice is to try to cure the condition rather than treating the symptoms. Drugs will not accomplish this for any herniated disc concern, so just remember that drugs will never be the solution to your disc related pain. In fact, they might actually become a big part of the problem.
Learn much more about the risks of drug therapies for back and neck pain in our excellent ebook The Pharmaceutical Trap. This book is just one of the important products in our proprietary pain relief program.
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