What Are Some Alternatives to Opioids for Chronic Pain?
Many people in the world suffer from pain. Opiate use is uncommon outside of the US. In fact, doctors prescribed an opioid daily dose for 1 out of 20 Americans. The rate of use is more than 50% than the use in Germany. Meanwhile 1 prescription out of 800 people in Japan is the norm.
Indeed, many countries use other techniques or approaches for reasons of availability and cost. Physical therapy is an alternative for some patients. Prolotherapy is another method that has been applied recently. Doctors can detect that the pain is often a consequence of inflammation in certain areas of the body. If not detected or diagnosed early enough, some of this inflammation develops into chronic conditions like arthritis.
In addition, there is a growing body of empirical evidence showing that various recommendations would be better than opiates for many people. Acupunture is another treatment option that can be helpful for various pain.
PRP (platelet rich plasma) is reinjected into a patient, using his/her own blood. Stem cell therapy is another option for individuals suffering from pain.
Stem cell therapy is advancing with various techniques to address pain. Medical practitioners harvest cells from the patient or from amniotic fluid, then cells are injected into damaged tissue to signal healing to the area.