Non-Opioid Treatment Options for Pain Management

Do you have existing chronic pain? Has pain relief opioids become something you’re considering? While they may be effective, they do come without risk. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports the U.S is in the middle of a opioid epidemic. There has not been a drastic increase in the amount of pain that Americans report. However, the amount of opioids prescribed and sold, for the goal of pain relief, has increased. Almost 218,000 people in the United States have died from prescription opioid related overdoses from year 1999-2017. Deaths from opioid overdoses were 5 times higher in 2017 than in 1999.

Even when prescribed and taken correctly, there’s a chance of developing a long-term dependence. Some feel like they don’t have a choice in whether to use opioids for their chronic pain. Fortunately, if you were hoping to avoid opioids for treating your pain, there are alternatives. Regenerative medicine is a method of treatments that focuses on using the body’s natural ability to heal in a more natural and drug free manner.

Regenerative medicine can help the body heal the underlying injury, alleviating pain. Opioids only relieve pain instead of treating the cause of the pain. Even not taking opioid addiction into consideration, opioids as a form of chronic pain relief may leave you with a long-term prescription that’ll be a constant expense. It’ll be an even longer expense if it develops into an addiction.

As well as being more natural, regenerative medicine aims to tackle the cause of pain instead of just relieving it. No possible addiction and no prescription with regenerative medicine treatments. Just healing the body with its own abilities.

Regenerative Medicine for pain Management

The two main forms of regenerative medicine is treatments containing stem cells and platelet rich plasma injections. Treatments containing stem cells involves injections using Wharton’s Jelly derived Mesenchymal stem cells. These treatments work because these treatments containing stem cells naturally have the ability to become specialized cells, helping the bodies healing process.

• The regeneration of these tissues is one way regenerative medicine is able to treat pain that was formally more difficult to treat without drugs or surgery. An example of chronic pain that this would relieve is hip pain related to the depletion of the soft tissue at the joint of the hip. In this case, treatments containing stem cells would be used to regenerate this depleted soft tissue instead of just relieving the pain with opioids.
• Platelet rich plasma injections is a procedure where blood is taken from the patient and then rapidly spun until plasma and platelets are separated. Platelets have healing properties within them that can repair damage within the body. These injections work because it introduces a concentrated amount of platelets at the site of an injury. Platelets are naturally a part of the body’s healing process, this procedure is concentrating them to where they are needed.

The aspect of regenerative medicine involves using the body’s natural healing abilities and concentrating them to where they are needed. Regenerative medicine doesn’t just relieve pain but treats underlying conditions in a surgical and drug free way.