It’s more important than ever to offer non-opioid pain management options, especially after surgery or in other situations where the development of chronic pain symptoms is possible or probable. One in 20 young adults use opioid painkillers for too long post-operation, which eventually leads to abuse. It’s hard to balance the need for post-surgical pain management with the risk of addiction. Fortunately, new research has presented physicians with multiple non-opioid options for managing post-surgical and chronic pain.
Ketamine infusions are regularly used to treat chronic pain—some patients have reported reduced pain symptoms for up to six months post infusion.
However, chronic pain patients pose an extraordinary challenge to surgeons who need to (a.) make sure their discomfort is kept to a minimum (b.) make sure they don’t create new pain symptoms for patients prone to developing chronic pain and (c.) prevent patients from becoming addicted to or at risk of abusing the painkillers they need to function. But ketamine for chronic pain has become a recommended course of pain management, even for post-surgical patients.
A new study out of Yale School of Medicine creates a case for the use of ketamine infusions for post-surgical pain management, especially in patients with pre-existing pain conditions. This is valuable research, especially since individuals who suffer from chronic pain before surgery may have already developed a tolerance to opiates and are in need of a painkiller that works through different mechanisms. Researchers recommend that chronic pain patients receive ketamine infusions for 1-3 days pre- and post-surgery, along with ongoing ketamine infusions, as needed, for long-term pain management. Leveraging ketamine infusions for chronic pain management would be a momentous step for the medical community towards decreasing opiate consumption, abuse and addiction.
Ketamine is not addictive, though many people believe that it is because of its reputation as a party drug. Of course, like many other highly effective drugs, ketamine can be abused recreationally. However, for chronic pain management, ketamine is administered only under clinical supervision and in doses much smaller than those used in a recreational setting. Ketamine can treat the pain associated with conditions such as CRPS, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, migraine headaches, diabetic nerve pain, and more. Ketamine success stories are abundant, like one woman who suffered from chronic pain that was so intense she would suffer blackouts, but who was able to reduce her pain by more than 50% through the use of ketamine infusions. The bottom line is that ketamine infusions are a non-addictive and highly-effective alternative to opiate painkillers, and increasingly there is more and more science to support that statement.
Contact RestoratIV Wellness
Contact our ketamine clinic, servicing patients in the greater Philadelphia and southern New Jersey areas. We offer ketamine for chronic pain, as well as for psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety, and could help you or a loved one reclaim your life and get back to the things you love. Find out if you are a candidate for ketamine treatments and request a free consultation with our highly experienced clinical staff.
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