band-aids
I started this blog because it amazes me (not in a good way) the way we talk about and deal with pain management. I remember when the Pain Playbook was just a budding thought I ‘started’ seeing so many ads for pain management solutions. Yes, I’m sure they were always on, but it was like the only thing I was seeing at the time. Our being less than a preventative culture, treatments and discussions about pain are totally reactive. Proposed solutions chase pain all over the body and put band-aids on experiences that need more holistic attention. Unfortunately, we may well be past prevention in many circumstances and for many current pain crises.
Consider this blog an introduction to some of the options we have available to treat pain. There are many ways to “apply bandages” and react in the moment to pain experiences. We also have opportunities to explore collaborative – and preventive – options for finding relief.
The Elephant in the Room: Opioids
Many feelings are triggered for me by the opioid crisis we face right now. Drugs and addiction are obviously not new – let me first say that. Many communities have been demolished by drugs and this situation is no different. In terms of pain and pain management – people seeking relief and help from medical providers—mostly I am angered. I am saddened and I am angry from under the many hats I wear and have worn as an outreach worker and drug counselor, as a health practitioner, as a daughter/sister/friend of people suffering from pain, and as a person experiencing pain.
How many (fairly recent) movies and streaming series can you name that deal with the opioid crisis? Pain Hustlers, Painkiller, Dopesick, Hazard are just a start. There is an obvious theme in these shows. The opioid crisis was assisted by an unfiltered and unchecked response of the medical field to tackle and profit from people’s pain. Drugs were a reactive response – a lucrative band-aid – to deal with the overwhelmingly expansive experience of pain across all populations. This response spiraled into a drug epidemic and people are still in pain.
(Side note) Recent news (January 2025) headlined that a tentative settlement has been reached in the Purdue/Sackler lawsuit. (The OxyContin epidemic laid out by the Sackler family was the basis for the series Painkiller).
Purdue Pharma and owners to pay $7.4 billion in settlement of lawsuits over OxyContin
But remember, this is only one example of this staggeringly extensive, pharmaceutical and, let’s face it, profit-driven response to pain and pain management.
Holistic healing
Medications are of course a treatment option. I do not suggest taking them off the table. And they should be used in conjunction with other modalities to help actually manage pain.
At the risk of losing critical licenses, as well as witnessing the opioid epidemic expand out of control, most prescription painkillers have had some regulation and monitoring. What happens to the people who unwillingly became addicted and rely on ever increasing dosage needs to combat pain? Well, for one, there is that proposed settlement (which still has to be approved by the courts).
And if pain sensitivity increases with drug use, what are the options for both pain management and addiction recovery?
I have mentioned that pain management requires a holistic approach. Even though pain is a physical experience, it encompasses other aspects of our health and well-being. If you add in addiction, that involves yet another pain dimension to tackle. Doctors will have to incorporate harm reduction and addiction “counseling” into pain management treatments. There will have to be standards and guidelines set up so that they can monitor usage and the potential for over-usage.
To be fair, doctors didn’t sign up for addiction counseling. So, can we honestly be upset if it is not something they offer with confidence or enthusiasm?
And in this moment, there are opportunities for creative collaborations. Because we are living through a time of tremendous change and cuts to human services, doctors’ offices become a place to search out one-stop shopping. Tackling mental health, addiction, disease, and pain all at once is overwhelming – to the patient and the doctor.
Pain management and addiction have to be tackled from a multidisciplinary approach. Health practitioners must work together with the patient to provide effective treatment options. This is not only true for addiction and pain management – it is true for pain management interventions and treatment across the board. Though a physical experience, pain impacts so many other areas of our lives, including mental and emotional health. It’s important that, when someone comes out of a pain experience, they should get information on strategies to prevent another occurrence. Or strategies to lessen the intensity of the occurrences.
Can we be honest enough here to say and understand that it can be fairly easy to find access to pills if/when the doctor’s prescribed supply runs out? That is not to say these resources are safe or healthy, to be sure. They are resources that are available and continue the promotion of chasing pain and band-aid application. So, for a segment of the population in addiction, it might be said they were even trained to become addicts in that they were taught to apply reactive band-aids rather than be proactive and preventive. If our solution to pain relies solely on medications, it seems imminent that the rates of addiction would only increase over time.
I’m just throwing out ideas here. Please let me know your thoughts. It’s both my passion and responsibility to spark conversation here.
Self-medicating
Self-medication is a way to alleviate symptoms and feel better. Be that with drugs, alcohol, or other vices (yes, even exercise addiction), it is a coping mechanism. Living with pain, being in pain, requires coping mechanisms. Sometimes, it is harder to find healthy ways to cope. And sometimes those healthier coping strategies don’t feel good as quickly. Vices are quick. They are usually fast. Alas, they are temporary. They tend to be (or become) expensive. And they require consistent application.
Self-medication is a coping strategy. I propose there are other, more effective and less damaging ways to cope and find relief from a pain experience. Please share your thoughts and strategies that have worked for you. There are resources out there to provide relief – devices, natural supplements, creams, mindset hacks, therapists – please share with the community so we can make progress with our pain management journeys.
