I’ve been told before that opiates aren’t useful for chronic pain, but I always assumed that was due to the risk of addiction. I had major surgery recently and was on morphine in the hospital and Vicodin after leaving. I hardly experienced any pain from the surgical site while on the medications, but my chronic shoulder pain seemed to be unaffected. Can anyone explain why this would be the case?
In: Biology
Basically, pain pathways are complex and chronic pain pathways are different than acute pain pathways. The way it was described to me is that, once pain shifts from acute to chronic, its pathway becomes ingrained. Opiates work by blocking pain signals between the body and the brain, but with chronic pain part of your brain is already primed to experience it. The call is coming from inside the house. That’s why antidepressants have been known to help.
I find weed effective. It doesn’t take the pain away entirely, but it certainly takes the edge off.
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