Treating Chronic Pain
We are in the midst of a devastating crisis in the U.S. We are witnessing the deadly impact of opioids on individuals and communities. With 129 deaths daily from unintended overdose, deaths from opioid overdoses now far surpass the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents.
Eighty percent of people who end up having trouble with opioids started with medications initially prescribed by doctors or dentists. Many of these folks have chronic pain, a condition for which opioid treatment is seldom indicated.
My upcoming book, “Treating Chronic Pain: Pill-Free Approaches to Move People from Hurt to Hope,” details non-opioid options for treating chronic pain. Filled with handouts, worksheets, and inventories, the book arms clinicians with powerful tools to use in treating those with pain.
One important section in the book highlights the myth that opioid pain medications are the strongest painkillers we have. That is simply not true.
There are very few scientific studies that compare the use of opioids with non-opioid medications for pain.
It is now clear that the combination of 200-mg ibuprofen taken at the same time as a 500-mg Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is more effective (by far) than any oral opioid.
Take a look at this graph based on information from the Cochrane organization:
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One 200-mg ibuprofen is as effective two Percocet pills. Tylenol by itself is better than oxycodone.
There is no evidence of opioid effectiveness for chronic pain. The side effect profile is horrible, it’s incredibly hard to get off opioids, and use of opioids leads to poorer quality of life and, ironically, increased pain.
So what do you do? The treatment of choice for chronic pain is behavioral therapy. We (behavioral health providers) should be in the driver’s seat in chronic pain treatment. Medications and procedures rarely provide the relief being sought.
Use the strategies in this book and provide the most effective—and safest—treatment for your people who are in pain. When you follow our evidence-based interventions, you'll help your clients move from hurt to hope.
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Martha Teater, MA, LMFT, LCAS, LPC, is a Diplomate with the Academy for Cognitive Therapy and is a practicing cognitive-behavioral therapist. She has maintained a private practice since 1990 and has worked in primary care settings, free clinics, and medication-assisted treatment programs. Martha is a Red Cross disaster mental health manager and has been on many national disaster deployments where she provides support to traumatized people. She is also involved with the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces to develop programs to support military and veteran families.
She has provided trainings in the United States and internationally on topics such as evidence-based treatments for trauma, DSM-5®, compassion fatigue, and behavioral treatment of chronic pain. A prolific writer, Martha has published over 175 articles in newspapers and magazines, including Psychotherapy Networker and Family Therapy Magazine. Martha is the co-author (with John Ludgate) of Overcoming Compassion Fatigue: A Practical Resilience Workbook (PESI, 2014) and (with Don Teater) Treating Chronic Pain: Pill-Free Approaches to Move People from Hurt to Hope (PESI, 2017).
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Martha Teater maintains a private practice and receives compensation as a consultant. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Martha Teater is a member of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy. She is a peer reviewer for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admiration and a reviewer for the National Board for Certified Counselors.
