"Long-term opioid therapy does not manage patients' pain more effectively than not taking opioids," says new study

Opioids are often prescribed to treat chronic pain, so it makes sense that if someone stopped taking them, their pain would worsen. But according to a new study, it could be that the opposite is indeed the case.

Researchers at the Washington State University found that when patients who used long-term opioids suffered from non-cancer-related pain, their pain did not decrease. does not really increase. In fact, in some cases this has improved

. The study looked at survey responses from 551 patients with pain who had been on opioid treatment for at least one year. Most suffered from musculoskeletal pain, but some suffered from neuropathic pain or headaches, including migraines. Patients rated their pain on a scale of 0 to 10 over a two-year period. Subsequently, the researchers examined their pain the year before and the year after stopping their opioid treatment.

"On average, the pain did not worsen in patients in our study one year after stopping long-term opioid therapy. McPherson – the professor of biostatistics who led the study. "The pain has improved slightly, especially in patients with mild to moderate pain right after stopping. Clinicians might consider these findings when discussing the risks and benefits of opioid therapy." long-term compared to other non-opioid treatments for chronic pain. "

These findings suggest that opioids may not be as effective as previously thought for long-term pain.

Given the damage that opioids can cause and the well-documented potential for addiction , researchers suggest patients with long-term pain management techniques.

"Our results indicate that long-term opioid treatment does not effectively manage the patient's pain intensity more effectively than not receive long-term opioid treatment, "said McPherson." There are a variety of treatments available for the management of chronic pain other than opioids and we hope this research will help promote conversations about these alternatives between physicians. and their patients. "

So maybe their next study should examine the effectiveness of the CBD as a management strategy for the doule in the long run