Pain
How is it treated?
The effectiveness of pain medications, also called analgesics, varies from person to person. Even if the medication is used correctly, it may not provide the same level of relief for everyone. For this reason, pain management is usually a multi-step process. The World Health Organization has developed a "Ladder" of three steps for managing pain.
The first agents on the ladder are the "simple" analgesics. These refer to analgesics such as acetaminophen, salicylates (such as aspirin), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or naproxen). For milder forms of pain, the doses available in over-the-counter products may be enough to control pain symptoms. There are two ways to take analgesics: as needed or scheduled. For mild acute pain, these medications can generally be taken on an "as needed" basis. This means that the product is taken at the recommended dosing interval only when pain is present. If the mild pain is more chronic in nature, these simple analgesics should typically be taken on a scheduled basis (sometimes called ?around the clock?) to help control pain and prevent it from "breaking through." A scheduled basis refers to taking the product at a set interval regardless of whether pain is present. Refer to the product label for proper dosing intervals for each product and how long you can safely take a product before you should see a doctor. For more moderate forms of pain, prescription doses of these simple analgesics may be needed.
If pain gets worse, a narcotic is added. Often, a narcotic is combined with a simple analgesic to make one tablet or capsule. An example of this is Vicodin; the combination of the narcotic hydrocodone with the simple analgesic acetaminophen. Other narcotics include codeine and morphine. When pain is too intense for a combination to control, the doctor may move to the third step--higher doses of the narcotic taken separately from any simple analgesics that the patient continues to take. Some people who take narcotics become addicted to the feelings they get from the medication and this often requires intervention by a doctor. However, t is rare for people using these medications as directed for pain relief to become addicted.
Narcotics and simple analgesics are no longer the only options for treatment of pain. Drugs like tramadol are known as non-narcotic analgesics. Unlike narcotics, patients taking this type of medication over long periods of time are less likely to build up a tolerance to the drug?s effects and less likely to become addicted.
Sometimes non pain-related medications are prescribed in addition to traditional pain medications. For instance, antidepressants can be used to ease the depression that sometimes accompanies pain. Sleep medications may be prescribed to help the patient get a good night?s rest if the pain interferes with sleep. Another example of using non pain-related medicatons occurs with neuropathic pain. With this type of pain, anti-convulsants or anti-depressants may be used to help control pain.
Drug classes used to treat Pain COX-2 Inhibitors Central Analgesics Miscellaneous Analgesics and Antipyretics Narcotic Analgesics Narcotic Combinations Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs Salicylates
|
How is it treated?
