The opioid epidemic is changing how providers treat pain, but health care leaders say patients need to change, too, when it comes to their pain expectations.
“You should expect that you’re going to have some pain, and you should also understand that taking a narcotic so that you have no pain really puts you at risk of becoming addicted to that narcotic,” Dr. Michael Schlosser, chief medical officer for Hospital Corporation of America, told Nashville Public Radio last week.
Dr. Kevin Lewis, chief medical officer for Parkridge Health System, emphasized that new pain protocols are not designed to induce fear or anxiety in patients, but rather have the patient’s safety and well-being in mind.
“Nobody in this conversation is saying that there are not legitimate reasons and scenarios where someone needs pain medication,” Lewis said. “Having said that, major procedures and major injuries hurt – there’s a reason why our bodies are designed to experience pain.”
Lewis remembers a time when medical professionals touted the age-old saying “no pain, no gain.” Until changing pain management standards and potent new narcotics, or opioids, revolutionized health care.