Prescribed an opioid?
Category : Blog , Chiropractic Education
How many people do you know that have an addiction or died from a pharmaceutical overdose? If you don’t, the odds are that you will or are unaware of the addiction. This year our daughter got her wisdom teeth removed. When my daughter and wife were leaving, the staff giving home care instructions included a prescription for an opioid type pain medicine. My wife said we would not need it because we would do ibuprofen alternating with Tylenol. They were very persuasive that she needs this type of pain med because the pain will prevent her from healing. So my wife and daughter left with a prescription for 5 opioid pain pills.
We have been blesses with information from other families who have expressed that their child’s addiction began with wisdom teeth removal. So we managed our daughters pain with alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen along with ice packs and cold foods. We set our alarm throughout the night so that we didn’t let our time laps the 3 hour increments. We were able to successful keep her 4 impacted wisdom teeth, swollen chipmunk cheeks, and black eyes from pain without the use of an opioid.
I know that there are times and surgeries when these types of pain meds are useful and necessary. But ask yourself these 5 questions first . If you find they are required, use a chart to document how much you are taking, have a loved one administer them to you for accountability, then replace with a non-addictive alternative as soon as possible.
