Chronic pain is a serious concern for millions of Americans. In the past, treating ongoing pain symptoms with medication was one of the most common approaches. However, time and experience has shown us that certain medications can be even more dangerous than some of the conditions that they are supposed to treat. Opioids, in particular, can be dangerous if misused.
Luckily, medications are not the only way to approach chronic pain. Alternative therapies such as stretching, physical therapy, and mental health treatment have been shown to be just as effective as medication. In some cases, these approaches have proven to be even more helpful as they are longer lasting by approaching the root causes of why the pain exists in the first place. Even activities like gentle exercise, such as walking and yoga, have been shown to help lessen pain and help those with this issue live better lives.
Calling them “alternative” therapies is not quite an accurate way to describe them, unfortunately. For many, this label is a reason to avoid them. I argue that “alternative” isn’t appropriate simply because for many people, they are a far more effective long term strategy for managing pain when compared to medication. Opioids don’t heal pain, they cause the body to be able to ignore it. Strategies such as physical therapy, counseling, and antidepressants can do a much better job at getting to the root causes behind pain and alleviating them in that manner.
Chronic pain makes living life difficult. It can be overwhelming and all-consuming. Everyone deserves better treatment for this, and hopefully, these other methods of treatment continue to grow in popularity and usage. There’s a lot of potential to help improve the quality of life that someone experiences through these methods, both for seniors and the rest of the population.
If you or someone that you love is dealing with chronic pain, the very first thing that you should do is talk with a physician. A doctor will be able to help you to better understand the pain that you are experiencing and why you are experiencing it. Not all sorts of chronic pain are the same and not all of them should be handled in the same way.
Where does senior care fit in with all of this?
For one, it’s important to realize that senior care is one piece of a bigger overall puzzle. Medical treatment, family, living arrangements, daily tasks, and personal interests are all part of life. Senior care should help to integrate all of these things so that the person who is in need experiences the highest quality of life that they can, with as few changes to their everyday life as possible or as desired.
Whatever type of senior care you decide to go with should be aimed at making life better, allowing the person receiving care to live the kind of life that they desire.
If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We offer free consultations designed to help answer these kinds of questions and get you pointed in the right direction. Give us a call to start the conversation.
Leave a Reply