Texas A&M Today ran a story entitled “How To Manage Opioid Abuse While Managing Chronic Pain.”
The article quotes Dr. Burnett, “The first step, says Christopher J. Burnett, MD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Texas A&M College of Medicine and director of the Baylor Scott & White Health’s Temple Pain Clinic, is to follow the guidelines the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last year.”
The advice is certainly reasonable and follows best practices. However, he cites an example where therapy modalities are a better short-term approach. “Much of the time, the right thing to do for lower back pain is to simply wait,” Burnett said. “It might be an acute injury that will heal on its own given a little time.” If not, there are a number of other treatment options available including anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units, acupuncture and massage.
We would add that laser therapy has shown very positive results for back pain as well as pain throughout the entire body. Learn more about how lasers work by downloading our free ebook How Do Therapeutic Lasers Work?
