Many people do not know the alternatives of opioids and how they are higher quality than opioids. Barry Meier and Abby Goodnough stated that “Douglas Scott, a property manager in Jacksonville, Fla., was taking was taking large doses of narcotic drugs, or opioids, to deal with the pain of back and spine injuries… The pills ease his pain, but they also caused him to withdraw from his wife, his two children and social life.” Techniques to relieve pain without opioids are becoming mainstream and have been researched continuously by researchers every day. These alternatives can be physical or mental, including: acupuncture, physical therapy, meditation, and TEN’s. The history of these alternatives is very intriguing and staggering today. First alternative is a popular idea throughout the United States now, which many refer to as acupuncture. According to THE HISTORY OF ACUPUNCTURE IN AMERICA IN THE 1970’S, “[I]t dates back 4,000 or more years.
The practice has been a staple of eastern culture, especially China, for most of that time.” Leading us to believe that acupuncture has been around since 1982 B.C.E. in China. As for the United States acupuncture, “dates back to the 1970’s and the Nixon era in particular” (“HISTORY”). Acupuncture all started from a journalist that traveled out of state and got sick. Chinese doctors used the acupuncture method to heal him. This specific journalist became “intrigued and impressed” (“HISTORY”) with the method and wrote an article over it. Next alternative that is also very mainstream and has a captivating history is meditation. Robert Puff stated “In the Indus Valley, archaeologists discovered evidence of meditation in wall art dating from approximately 5,000 to 3,500 BCE.” In better terms, meditation derived from Northwest India today.
On the other hand, United States did not start knowing about meditation till the 1960’s to 1970’s. Meditation became introduced to the United States by “Swami Vivekananda and… Paramehansa Yogananda” (Puff). There are various forms of meditation, but we use the mainstream one known as “Qur’an” and as Robert Puff says it means, “which is contemplative meditation and reflection upon the universe.” Learning about the history of these alternatives will help you better understand how they work and help people around the United States. The most popular alternatives are the physical treatments corresponding to acupuncture and physical therapy. According to Diana Rodriguez, “Acupuncture uses tiny needles, placed in specific points along the body, to help alleviate pain.” Putting these small needles in your body, leads you to stress less and gives you more sleep during the night.
In another article by Kirsten M. Lagatree, “According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), a number of studies suggest that acupuncture works particularly well on chronic pain such as back and neck pain; osteoarthritis/knee pain; and headache.” Leading many of us to believe that at a reasonable price, this alternative is a good option. Next option of the physical treatments is physical therapy. “Physical therapy teaches you how to gently move and stretch your muscles and work your joints to strengthen them, which will help alleviate pain” (Rodriguez). Physical therapy reminds me of exercise, you just have a teacher teaching you how to do it correctly. Many people believe when you are in pain, resting will help, but Christine Herman stated “But inactivity can make the pain worse.”
In addition, another reason physical therapy helps with pain as Robert Steiner states “Your physical therapy program is individualized,… especially since chronic pain is such a subjective, personal experience.” As a result, physical therapy can reduce your pain in replace of opioids. Next, the alternative treatment is meditation or also known as mental and emotional treatments. Meditation or as Harry Croft states “Relaxation therapy involves several techniques designed to help people achieve a relaxed state.” Meditation has been researched and it shows that it does help chronic pain in many ways. Likewise, according to Brian Steiner, “In these studies, meditation has been shown to help pain, sometimes significantly, though not cure it.”
Meditation looks like a simple or an easy task to do, but there is a great deal of science behind meditation. “However, studies conducted within the past 10 years have shown that meditation may be able to change the brain. Four areas of the brain involved in pain processing or emotional and behavioral regulation have been shown by Zeidan to have differing activity levels during and after meditation. Seven other separate researchers have shown these same areas to be affected by meditation in other studies as well.” (Steiner) Given these points, all the four areas of the brain mentioned beforehand deals with pain receptors in some way, meaning meditation can take away pain for a certain amount of time. The last alternative is an approach usually called by the name “TEN’s.” TEN’s stands for Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, hence “nerve” in the name. Ten’s is actually “a small device attached to the skin sends electrical impulses to the painful area, stimulates the nerves, and as a result, reduces pain” (Rodriguez).
Thus, releasing endorphins, as exercise does, to stop pain in the specific area. As most alternatives do, TEN’s also has rules or protocols, as Chronic pain treatments: TENS states “Research has shown that TENS is most helpful for chronic pain when used for at least 30 minutes while you are active.” TENS is practically “[Y}our body’s own painkiller” (Chronic Pain). Helping the chronic pain you have had for a while, to finally stop for a specific amount of time for an inexpensive price. If more people knew about the alternatives and the benefits of these specific kinds, less people would rely on opioids and rely more on safe and effective treatments. Alternatives as: Acupuncture, physical therapy, meditation, and the TENS treatment are researched and reliable. People can have a handle back on their life if given a chance to these treatments.
Works Cited
- “Chronic pain treatments: TENS” UIHC, January 2019, https://uihc.org/health-topics/chronic-pain-treatments-tens.
- Croft, Harry. “Treating Anxiety Disorders without Medication.” Healthy Place, 10 July 2016, www.healthyplace.com/alternative-mental-health/treatments/treating-anxiety-disorders-without-medication.
- ‘THE HISTORY OF ACUPUNCTURE IN AMERICA IN THE 1970’S.’ Above and Beyond Acupuncture, October 8, 2015, https://www.aboveandbeyondacupuncture.com/the-history-of-acupuncture-in-america/.
- Herman, Christine. “For Chronic Pain, a Change in Habits Can Beat Opioids for Relief.” NPR, 6 Apr. 2018, www.npr.org/sectors/health-shots/2018/04/06/599850185/for-chronic-pain-a-change-in-habits-can-beat-opioids-for-relief.
- Lagatree, Kirsten M. “The Role of Acupuncture in Treating Chronic Pain” Practical Pain Management, July 18, 2017, https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/patient/treatments/alternative/role-acupuncture-treating-chronic-pain.
- Meier, Barry, and Abby Goodnough. “New Ways to Treat Pain Meet Resistance.” The New York Times, 22 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/business/new-ways-to-treat-pain-without-opioids-meet-resistance.html.
- Puff, Robert. “An Overview of Meditation: Its Origins and Traditions.” Psychology Today, Jul 07, 2013, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meditation-modern-life/201307/overview-meditation-its-origins-and-traditions.
- Richeimer, Steven. “Physical Therapy for Chronic Pain.” Spine Universe, Feb. 15, 2018, https://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/chronic-pain/physical-therapy-chronic-pain.
- Rodriguez, Diana. “Pain Management without Drugs.” Everyday Health, 15 July 2013, www.everydayheath.com/pain-management/physical-treatments-for-pain.aspx.
- Steiner, Brian. “Treating Chronic Pain With Meditation.” The Alantic, Apr. 1, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/04/treating-chronic-pain-with-meditation/284182/.
