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In this article
- All Pain Is Not the Same
- What Can I Do to Feel Better?
- Are There Devices That Help?
- What About Medicine?
- Will I Need Surgery?
What About Medicine?
Your doctor will consider what’s causing your pain, how long you’ve had it, how intense it is, and what medications will help. They may recommend one or more of the following:
These may include over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen, aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen. Or you may need stronger medications that require a prescription, such as steroids, morphine, codeine, or anesthesia.
Some are pills or tablets. Others are shots. There are also sprays or lotions that go on your skin.
Other drugs, like muscle relaxers and some antidepressants, are also used for pain. Some people may need anesthetic drugs to block pain.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist how to take your medication, how much relief to expect, and what the side effects are.
Will I Need Surgery?
It depends on why you're in pain. If you’ve had a sudden injury or accident, you might need surgery right away.
But if you have chronic pain, you may or may not need an operation or another procedure, such as a nerve block (done with anesthetics or other types of prescription drugs to halt pain signals) or a spinal injection (such as a shot of cortisone or an anesthetic drug).
Talk with your doctor about what results you can expect and any side effects, so you can weigh the risks and the benefits. Also ask how many times the doctor has done the procedure they recommend and what their patients have said about how much relief they’ve gotten.
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