People suffering from chronic pain that has no known cause should not be prescribed painkillers, the medicines watchdog has announced, recommending such patients be offered exercise, talking therapies and acupuncture instead.
This was the opening paragraph in today’s Guardian article Chronic pain sufferers should take exercise, not analgesics, says Nice. The National Institute for Health Care (NICE) have release a new guideline to Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain on their website.
Many people with chronic pain can go years without getting a diagnosis to what is causing their pains, whether this is myalgia encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia or other forms of rare diseases.
I have Mucopolysaccharidosis Morquio (MPS IV) and with that, it comes with scoliosis, which causes considerable pain on my back. I have also developed a form osteoporosis, which is giving me a lot of pain in my left foot and upper leg.
As some of you may be aware from my recent postings, the pain is flaring up badly at the moment, which really affects my sleep and day-to-day living. It affects my quality of sleep, my mental health, my concentration and my temperament.
In a major change of pain treatment policy, the National Institute for health and Care Excellence (Nice) say that in future, doctors should advise sufferers to use physical and psychological therapies rather than analgesics to manage their pain.
Whilst I am of the thinking that painkillers are not always the answers, neither is being told to take more exercise or have psychological therapies. I have been going to gym for many years to keep my strength up, with some light but effective exercises. I have also been for some Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) over the years also, to help me work through different issues.
I am lucky, that I have been diagnosed with the root causes of my chronic pains early on in life and can seek help to relief or ease the pains when required, I can only imagine the stress and hurt that others must be going through today, with this announcement from NICE.
CBT and exercises are not the response to pain and agony, If I want or need to exercise now, or in recent years, I needed painkillers. I sometimes needed painkillers to go to my job, as I wouldn’t be able to get the day in otherwise. I also go for physio, to relief the pain I am experiencing, as I would be unable to function fully without this.