Ask your physician tough questions about opioids

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. 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. Every day on news outlets throughout the country we see stories about the risks and dangers of opioids. More than 300 million opioid prescriptions are written each year. Many people feel conflicted about taking them and pain medicine specialists throughout the country are working to help patients in pain use a wider variety of medications and therapies to effectively ease pain. For many patients, who have long-term or chronic pain, I suggest they ask their pain medicine specialist some tough questions about the risks and side effects of taking opioids. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Meds Pain management Source Type: blogs