Dooley Noted: 6/2/2016
I have my share of patients that have been prescribed opiates by their physicians.
Yes, opiates can kill pain.
And yes, opiates are addictive.
Yes, pain often returns after opiates wear off.
And yes, you will certainly down-regulate your own production of opiates if you take an exogenous source like painkillers.
Doctors prescribe painkillers, knowing fully that the drug will never get to the source of pain.
So, are they unethical people by prescribing them?
My opinion is no, not necessarily. It’s simply a choice they make in how they want to help people get out of pain – even if it is momentary.
People tend to only come to me when they are in pain.
And I am put on this earth to help them understand how to get out of it.
If I thought a pill would actually get to the source of the problem, I would consider it.
But I know that pill does not exist.
Even if it did, it would never give the empowerment earned by learning how the root dysfunctions that cause pain can change at your hand.
You can see yourself right out of your pain.
Sometimes, it’s quick.
Other times, it’s a more committed effort.
Either way, rehabilitation usually results in moving better than you did before you had the injury.
While doctors who prescribe painkillers are not bad people,. I also think they fall short in their commitments to findings the source of the pain.
That is why their services are deemed “pain management.”
You can seek someone to help you learn to manage your pain with medications.
Or, you can seek help to learn how to stop hurting yourself – so you need those pills less and less.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
