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Amarillo VA holds Veteran Town Hall on Pain Management, Opioids

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The Amarillo VA Health Care System called nearly 15,000 Veterans and held a telephone town hall June 16 to discuss a common topic of concern of Veterans – pain management and opioids.

Overall, the town hall showed Veterans perspectives from four subject matter experts in primary care, opioid safety, physical therapy and whole health.

One of the many concerns providers get within the health care system is the evolution on prescribing opioids. During a 15-year period more than 165,000 Americans died from prescription opioids medication related overdoses, and according to Amarillo Provider, Ginger Carthel, this rate has increased year after year.

“We now have the benefit of several decades of medical knowledge and evidence showing that opioids are not always the best solution for pain management,” Carthel said. “Now we are finding that there are more effective tools in the toolbox for chronic, non-end of life pain such as disease management, whole health consultations, pain specialty consultations, behavioral health offerings and non-opioid related medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.”

One reason why prescription medications are not always the best answer for patients is that they don’t treat injuries, said Dr. Nicole Casias, Amarillo Pain Management, Opioid Safety, and Prescription Drug Coordinator.

“Opioids work differently on the body compared to items such as Tylenol or Advil,” Casias said. “Opioids block pain signals from an injury, or previous injury, from being received by the brain. Medications such as Tylenol or Advil work often by acting at the source of the pain, such as decrease swelling or inflammation.”

Additionally, Casias notes that the side effects of prescription pain medications can widely range from constipation, hallucinations, or something far more serious that can potentially lead to an accidental overdose.

“Opioids, especially at high doses, can dangerously slow or stop your breathing to the point it will stop your ability to breath,” Casias said. “These side effects are why there is such a concern to avoid these risks for our patients.”

 

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