If you are in chronic pain, then you may be facing taking opioid medications to help take some of that pain away. However, before you start on this type of pain medication, it is a good idea to see what other options there may be out there. While opioid medications can be great for pain relief, they also come with risks and side effects. One risk you face when starting on this type of medication for chronic pain is becoming dependent or even addicted to it. Here are some of the alternatives you may want to look into that can bring you some relief from your chronic pain.

Chiropractor – In some cases, seeing a chiropractor can help you with your chronic pain. If the pain is in your neck, shoulders or back, then a chiropractor may bring relief by helping with your body's alignment. Also, the chiropractor can use some other types of therapies to help with those types of pains, as well as other pains throughout your body.

Physical therapy - Going to physical therapy may help you with chronic pain as well. There are a variety of things that can be done by a physical therapist to help alleviate pain and things they can teach you to do at home, such as stretches and exercises. They may also be able to give you tools to use that can help, such as a brace for the part of your body that hurts, a walking aide, workout equipment, etc.

Surgery – In some cases, you may be offered a surgical procedure that can help to repair the issue that ails you. After your surgery, you may find you are no longer in chronic pain, or that the pain you do have is significantly less than before you had surgery.

Injections – In some cases, you may be a good candidate to have injections that will help to alleviate much of your pain without the need for you to take daily pain medications. These injections can work for long periods of times, in some cases they can help with pain for a number of months. You will go in for the injections according to your doctor's recommendations and may find they help you feel much better year-round.

Opioid treatment

If you are already on opioid medication for pain, then you want to begin by finding a way to relieve your pain. One or more of the options above may be a great place to start. Then, you can begin weaning off of the opioids. You'll want to wean slowly. If you experience withdrawal symptoms, then talk to your doctor about non-addictive opioid withdrawal treatments. They may recommend a combination of medications and natural oils, or other non-addictive opioid treatments that can help with the withdrawal symptoms.

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