Newsletter

Current News   |   Newsletter

New Hope for Relief

Pain medications are improving all of the time, and so are the delivery systems. As doctors increasingly recognize the need to help people better manage chronic pain, patients get more options and decision-making power.

New treatments can include:

• Multi-target, integrated approaches that may include new drugs, nerve-zapping therapy, continuous medication delivery systems and psychotherapy techniques.
  
  
• Use of medications not normally associated with pain treatment, such as anti-convulsants and anti-depressants. The pain-relieving properties of some of these drugs can be even more effective when combined with
  a lower dose of narcotic pain medication.
  
  
• Drugs that better target the root of the pain, minimizing unpleasant side effects and disruptions in lifestyle.
  
  
• More effective topical treatments such as pain creams and transdermal patches for delivering consistent and longterm relief.
  
  
• Synthetic opiate drugs that deliver the benefits of narcotics with a lower risk for addiction and other side effects.
  
  
• Pain pacemakers, which deliver electrical signals directly into the spinal cord or specific nerves and can be controlled by the pain sufferer.
  
  
• Radiofrequency ablation, which uses heat to treat sensitive nerve tissue, providing pain relief for three to six months.

Next: Other Treatments Worth a Look