Pain Management Without Opioids: Alternative Treatments

Check out this go-to guide that explains opioid alternatives for pain after a car accident.

Written by CrashMD staff

You’ve been in a car accident and you’re experiencing pain. What are the best treatment options? If this is the first time you’ve experienced pain that you believe requires medical attention, it might seem like a daunting task as to who to see and what treatment to start with. While it might make sense to take opioid-based medication to help immediately alleviate pain symptoms, that is not always the best option for you now or in the long term. 

Years ago, opioid-based medications were prescribed for patients who were experiencing pain symptoms because they were believed to be a great, non-invasive treatment option. Opioids can effectively relieve pain and make patients feel happy and relaxed. They work by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and body, which helps to both block pain signals and release dopamine, which is the body’s “feel good” hormone. Opioids have been helpful for people who have pain symptoms associated with serious injuries, as well as patients who are recovering from surgery. 

So why aren’t they recommended anymore? Easy: they don’t treat the underlying cause of pain, the patient can abuse and overuse them, they are highly addictive, and they have a range of side effects that could reduce quality of life in the long term. 

If you’ve suffered from an injury and are interested in learning about non-opioid pain relief options after an accident, partnering with a pain management specialist is the best place to start. They are specialized in all aspects of pain management and can recommend the most effective and comfortable treatment options for you and your pain-relief goals. Thankfully there are several opioid alternatives for pain relief, and they are often more effective than opioids. 

Side Effects for Opioids

Even though opioids have proven helpful for managing a variety of pain symptoms, a person should be hesitant to take them, even if they are prescribed (which now they shouldn’t, since there are so many other options available!). Two main issues with opioids are that a person will create a tolerance over time, meaning that they will need either more medication or a higher dose over time, and the risk of dependence, meaning a person will have symptoms of a withdrawal if the medication is lessened or stopped. 

Even if taken as directed, a person can and should expect to experience any or all of the below side effects: 

• Increased sensitivity to pain
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sleepiness
• Dry mouth
• Constipation
• Low levels of testosterone that can negatively affect energy, strength and sex drive

So when a patient, who is trying to effectively get out of pain and improve their quality of life, considers the above side effects, there should be no real option in taking opioid-based medications for pain relief. There are numerous opioid alternatives for pain relief, all that are more comfortable, effective and with minimal, if any, side effects. 

Opioid Alternatives For Pain – Alternative Treatments to Pain Management

The modern, and most effective, approach to pain management involves treating the entire patient, meaning the pain management specialist will utilize a combination of therapies to help provide pain relief now as well as reduce any future symptoms of pain. 

Some of the most common health concerns where a provider might have prescribed opioids include:

• Lower back or neck pain
• Dental procedures
• Nerve pain (neuropathy)
• Headaches and chronic migraines
• Pain related to musculoskeletal injuries (such as sprains, strains, tendonitis, and bursitis)
• Scar tissue pain
• Muscle pain

Opioids were recommended if the short-term benefits outweighed the potential risks, especially if the patient was only experiencing acute (short-term) pain from one particular event or trauma. However, if a patient is suffering from chronic pain that lasts a few months or longer, the opioids are not recommended because of the potential side effects mentioned above. 

The cause of a patient’s particular chronic pain could be obvious, such as from a broken bone during a car accident, or unknown. Certain illnesses, injuries, and health conditions can cause changes in the body that actually change the way the brain perceives pain. This could make a person more sensitive to pain, which means that pain could always be felt or it could be felt at an elevated level that doesn’t correlate with the action (i.e. sitting in a chair or getting up from a chair). Unfortunately, these chronic pain symptoms can last indefinitely, even after the patient has healed or recovered from the particular injury or health condition. 

Now, there are a variety of treatment options that pain management specialists will utilize to best care for the patient. These treatment options, which are all based on the type of pain and the severity of the injury, are all helpful for helping the patient to find non-opioid pain relief after an accident. 

• RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation is a great at-home treatment method that can help to alleviate most symptoms of chronic pain
• Exercise: low-impact exercise can help to both strengthen the body but also stretch the muscles and work out the joints, which can help to promote healing. Great activities include swimming, walking, yoga and cycling
• Physical therapy: a physical therapist will help to recommend certain stretches and exercises to help strengthen your muscles as well as increase your mobility, flexibility and range of motion
• Non-opioid medication: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and over-the-counter pain medications can help to reduce inflammation and pain symptoms. Taking medications as prescribed can help a patient more comfortably enjoy other treatment options, such as physical therapy and/or exercise. Additionally, anti-epileptic drugs can help to control irregular brain signals, muscle relaxants can help to prevent muscle spasms and contractions, and antidepressants can help to balance out the chemicals in the brain and help improve mood and emotion. 
• Mind-body practices: practicing biofeedback, breathing techniques, meditation and mindfulness practices can help to train the brain how to manage certain processes and calm down, thereby reducing feelings of pain
• Alternative therapies: acupuncture, massages and chiropractic care all help to reduce pressure on the joints and spine, relieve pain and relax the patient
• Lifestyle changes: focusing on a healthy diet has been proven to reduce pain symptoms as you are giving your body the fuel it needs to repair itself. Additionally, losing weight (if recommended), quitting smoking and making sure you’re getting enough sleep can also help to support your body as much as possible. 
• Injections: injecting a corticosteroid and an anesthetic in the affected area of the body can provide immediate pain relief. Trigger point injections are also helpful as they target the trigger points in the muscle that prevent the muscle from relaxing. These are both minimally-invasive options that could help a person experience pain relief for months or years. 
• Surgical implants: two main implant options have proven helpful for helping patients experience pain relief: spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and intrathecal drug delivery. SCS is dubbed the “pacemaker” for pain and is a small device that is implanted under the skin. The device provides low electrical currents that prevent pain sensations from reaching the brain. So instead of feeling pain, the patient will feel a mild buzzing or tingling sensation. The benefit to this is that the patient can control the level of stimulation, so can increase it or decrease it as needed. Another option is an intrathecal drug delivery that uses an implanted pump to deliver pain medication directly into the spinal cord, which is where pain signals travel. This allows patients to experience targeted pain relief as well as use a fraction of the pain medication they would be ingesting orally – all without opioid-based medication!
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): a TENS unit is a small device that uses low-voltage electrical currents delivered through pads placed on the skin. It’s a non-invasive treatment that can help with muscle pain, and is often used before SCS as a diagnostic tool to see if SCS will help to provide permanent relief that a patient can control without having any lifestyle limitations. 

The best way to determine the most effective non-opioid pain relief treatments to help you after your car accident or traumatic injury is to partner with a highly-skilled pain management specialist. They will be able to accurately review and diagnose your pain symptoms, learn more about your health/medical history and your lifestyle goals, and partner with you to see which treatment options you’re most comfortable with. The goal is to help all patients experience pain relief now with as few risks or side effects as possible, as well as help to avoid any future ailments or conditions in the future as a result of treatment. 

If you have recently been in a car accident and would like to know more about opioid alternatives for pain, please reach out to the CrashMD team today. We are dedicated to help our patients make the best choice for treatment that will help them enjoy not only more pain-free movement, mobility and flexibility, but also an improved quality of life where they can enjoy their daily activities. Gone are the days where a provider should write a prescription for opioids and send the patient on their way. There is a better way now, and all patients deserve to have all available options presented to them so they can make the best decision possible. Please schedule an appointment today with the CrashMD team so that we can review all treatment options with you and can partner with you on your pain-free journey, which should start as soon as possible.