What happens when medication doesn't bring your condition under control? Usually, it’s not just one single issue but various factors that contribute to the problem.  Finding the right combination of medications may require some work. Here are few points to consider. 

In the United States, many prescriptions for opioids following surgery serve as an unintended gateway to long-term opioid use. We know that more than 50 million surgical procedures happen in the U.S. annually and an estimated 2.6 million Americans will become persistent users of opioids following initial exposure after surgery in the hospital. Reducing opioids exposure in the postoperative setting is a crucial way to help curb the opioid epidemic.

Health Pivot, founded in 2020, is a global health initiative to create public health awareness on emerging matters related to health policy, healthcare, and innovation.

Living with chronic pain can be tough, but it’s even more challenging for patients while they try to be productive at work. As a physician anesthesiologist who works with a broad range of chronic pain patients, I understand how difficult it is to transition back to a high-paced, high functioning job environment while still living with constant pain.

Alleviating pain has been a primary focus of my career as a physician anesthesiologist. Just as there are physicians who specialize in treating conditions such as cancer, heart disease or allergies, there are specialists in treating pain. These physicians complete four years of medical school and further training in a specialty, such as anesthesiology, physical medicine, and rehabilitation, psychiatry or neurology, followed by an additional year of training to become an expert in chronic pain.

There is no better time to reflect on how we as physicians can better serve our patients — not only in the treatments we provide — but in how we tackle growing health issues such as the overuse and abuse of prescription opioid painkillers.

When planning to undergo a surgical procedure, with or without subsequent hospitalization, I always encourage patients to use a method that is a hallmark of patient safety; a checklist. The following is a simple checklist for patients to use before surgery to help them ease any fears about going under the knife as well as afford the feeling of being an active rather than passive participant.

One of the most unnecessary issues facing patients when they enter the hospital is untreated (or undertreated) pain. Often the focus of the medical team is to treat a condition, and controlling a patient’s pain comes second. Fortunately, this doesn’t need to be the situation. Here are a few tips for patients to ensure that their pain does not go overlooked:

Opioids often are the go-to pain killer for everything from back aches and injuries to post-surgical pain, as evidenced by the more than 300 million prescriptions written each year. While they can be effective for moderate to severe short-term pain, opioids are not without risk.