Pain intolerance has escalated correlating with anxiety disorder. Patients these days coming in for a dental cleaning are asking for nitrous, complaining about how painful a blood draw is (frequently even about the tourniquet or a blood pressure cuff!). Any study vilifying opiates these days will get cited. Problem is, now dentists and physicians are reluctant to prescribe opiates for Situations where they are truly indicated. Yes ibuprofen is moderately effective for dental inflammatory pain, however, a study concluding that Tylenol and ibuprofen globally works better than Vicodin is truly questionable. I'm sure there are categories of patients that don't need opiates, but once this gets quoted in the New York Times and on abc News the authors will be responsible for needless suffering in many patients. By vilifying a class of medications we are turning interventional medical treatment back to the Dark Ages. In part you can thank the Sackler family that created millions of opiate addicts for profit. Do no harm includes do not make your patients suffer needlessly if it can be avoided. You shouldn't make global statements.
Pain intolerance has escalated correlating with anxiety disorder. Patients these days coming in for a dental cleaning are asking for nitrous, complaining about how painful a blood draw is (frequently even about the tourniquet or a blood pressure cuff!). Any study vilifying opiates these days will get cited. Problem is, now dentists and physicians are reluctant to prescribe opiates for Situations where they are truly indicated. Yes ibuprofen is moderately effective for dental inflammatory pain, however, a study concluding that Tylenol and ibuprofen globally works better than Vicodin is truly questionable. I'm sure there are categories of patients that don't need opiates, but once this gets quoted in the New York Times and on abc News the authors will be responsible for needless suffering in many patients. By vilifying a class of medications we are turning interventional medical treatment back to the Dark Ages. In part you can thank the Sackler family that created millions of opiate addicts for profit. Do no harm includes do not make your patients suffer needlessly if it can be avoided. You shouldn't make global statements.
Probably if there is no real pain