Prevent Opioid Addiction with Physical Therapy and Chiropractic
Written by Cam Corbet
When you hear about opioid treatment, it’s usually associated with drugs like Naloxone or medication-assisted clinics. While these therapies can improve mortality and reduce overdoses, there continues to be a lack of resources for pharmacological therapies.
The question becomes, are there other therapies that can curb opioid usage? What about the prevention of opioid use through strength building or stretching? You might think, there’s no way, but the evidence is building that supports the use of physical therapy and chiropractic care to curb opioid use.
The opioid epidemic continues to impact every state in the country. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Missouri ranks in the top twenty states in opioid deaths. You can see why local, state, and federal leaders agree that opioid prevention is a high priority for 2022 and beyond. Health experts research solutions to this problem, and while opioid prescriptions have declined by 40 percent, opioid deaths have doubled since 2016, according to a report from the American Medical Association.
So how will we make an impact on these statistics? New research points to non-pharmacological treatments that are making an impact which begs the question. Can physical therapy and chiropractic care prevent opioid addiction?
Physical Therapy and the Reduction of Opioid Use
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) studied the impact of Physical Therapy and the subsequent use of opioids. JAMA found that out of about 89,000 patients when using physical therapies in conjunction with shoulder, knee, neck, and low-back pain, there was a 10 percent reduction in subsequent opioid use. What about Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic Care and the Reduction of Opioid Use
According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, when patients participated in chiropractic care due to pain in the neck or lower back, they had 64 percent lower odds of using prescription opioids to deal with their pain. So what does this mean for pain management in the future? Can physical therapy and chiropractic care be viable options for patients dealing with pain?
Changing the Mindset of Pain Management
"At Performance Plus, our team has found numerous ways to facilitate a patients' recovery, whether you are post-surgery, a child with an injury, or an older adult that needs help staying active," says Dr. Allyn Smith.
Movement is an essential aspect of recovery. The body, when active, releases its opioid-like chemicals; we often call it a runner’s high. These chemicals make us feel good and could be an interesting variable for research in the future. We look to address the barriers that lead patients to use opioids. Patients often look to medication to mask the pain. We are finding ways to get patients to think of chiropractic care and physical therapy as a first step in pain management. The research shows us that using these therapies can help manage pain in patients.
Avoid Opioid Use through Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care
Can physical therapy and chiropractic care help prevent opioid addiction? Research shows that the combination of physical therapy techniques and chiropractic care can provide lasting pain relief for a wide variety of injuries and recoveries; Performance Plus is here to help. Visit us to learn more about how you may benefit from physical therapy or chiropractic care for pain management and relief. At Performance Plus, our doctors and providers work together so you can get the quality care you need for your injury and recovery. Contact us today.
