Have you suffered excruciating pain for multiple days in a row? Non stop? Like so bad that your muscles recoil in horror that then causes even more pain in a recursive loop of horror?
Actually yes, in Germany if you break your bones you get ibuprofen, if you get your wisdom teeth pulled, you get ibuprofen.
We don't have an opioid crisis anymore.
Pain is a fact of life. The problem in the US is that there's the expectation to work the next day. It's ok to be in pain, it's also ok to miss out on work.
If you accept these two basic facts you don't have an opioid crisis anymore.
I see you have never been in any real pain, ever. What do you get for cancer in Germany? Still ibuprofen?
There's a reason opioids exist and were such a revolution in medicine. They really work. Ibuprofen et al are fine for what they are, but anti-inflammatories can only do so much. We should be able to solve the over-prescribing and addiction issues as a society without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
"I've had some back pain and got prescribed opiates, now i'm addicted"
We're not talking about getting some opiates after surgery or severe and mostly rare things. Americans get opiates for all kinds of small inconveniences, like a wisdom tooth removal, or some back pain. Opiates don't heal or fix back pains. They just mask the symptoms and create a new problem.
I've been in a lot of pain in my life and never took any opiates, because they are reserved for extreme situations where i live. In america, i would have had easy access to prescriptions for those in most cases.
I’ve had opiates for wisdom tooth extraction and a couple of relatively minor but very painful injuries. I was very glad to have them. They made the experiences much more bearable. I did not experience any addiction issues, and I’m glad that my access to these medications was not limited due to some people’s inability to handle them.
I really don’t think forcing needless suffering on everyone is the answer to this problem.
Opiates for wisdom teeth extraction are entirely unnecessary.
Source: had six very painful teeth extractions, with bone grafts and two sinus repairs. I was almost pain-free on 600mg ibuprofen + 600mg acetaminophen every 6 or so hours. I say "almost" because I was not dumb enough to try any type of exercise, or eating crunchy cereal, but I had no problem falling and staying asleep or going back to work in 24 hours.
So I am not entirely sure why you think opiates were necessary or provided you the type of relief that OTC meds could not provide. My double-board-certified, extremely expensive dental surgeon doesn't seem to think so.
I also had abdominal surgery, for which I can concur opiates do help quite a bit, which is entirely separate story.
Who is suggesting ibuprofen for cancer? Come on now. There is absolutely time and place for narcotic pain killers. But there are a lot of doctors prescribing them for really minor things. Few years ago I got vicodin after a root canal. It was baffling
>I see you have never been in any real pain, ever. What do you get for cancer in Germany? Still ibuprofen?
I guess not. My point still stands though. Americans in Germany whine all the time about not getting "proper" pain medication. It's an attitude problem.
I have been in pain multiple times, mostly broken bones, wisdom teeth, tendons and the like, and in the moment it doesn't feel good to only get ibuprofen.
But most pain is not too much to take and it's ok for you to feel it. It's better than getting an addiction problem for life.
As you say it's an over-prescribing issue. Keep opioids only for extreme pain. Not for normal pain.
I would much prefer to be given more than ibuprofen for surgery, thanks. Have you have had tumor removed from your body? That would hurt like the dickens with just some tylenol and no real pain meds or anesthesia.
> If you accept these two basic facts you don't have an opioid crisis anymore.
This is an incredibly simplistic view of a very complex issue.
Why is it so hard to understand? I don’t think anyone here is saying there is no legitimate use for narcotic pain killers. If anyone is in huge amount of pain, by all means, take what you need. However it should almost never be default first line pain management outside of the hospital.
You what?
Did you really just say “other people may die but that is a price I’m willing to pay”? Like you’re in charge of who dies and who lives or something
Oh I absolutely agree with him. The opioid crisis is tragic but denying people medication for their injuries, illnesses, mental health (adhd) in a completely ineffective attempt to curb a crisis that is mainly caused by the importation of cheap fentanyl analogs is the greater of two evils.
Breaking a bone doesn’t perpetually hurt like a Charlie horse that never stops tightening. Gout for example in the big toe can be the most painful experience ever, speaking as someone who’s been in many accidents. It can last several days, it feels like a shark biting your toe off every second.
Actually in the US you also get ibuprofen.
I had very invasive jaw surgery and sinus repair. It hurt. I got 600mg ibuprofen and 600mg acetaminophen for the pain every 4-6 hours. It definitively took pain down to tolerable levels.
as a counterexample, I had an infected tooth over the weekend. I took ibuprofen and acetaminophen around the clock, and it did jack shit. I was lying in bed and whimpering in pain, so close to going to the ER, but I knew they wouldn't do anything for me.
I actually have mild PTSD about that incident. It was the second-worst pain I've experienced in my life, and it wouldn't stop.
