Motorcycle injuries can lead to severe injuries, which cause pain management issues during the recovery periods and sometimes long after the accident. Injuries such as broken bones, whiplash, fractures, neck injuries, and spinal injuries typically give rise to long-term pain.
To deal with the pain, many accident victims rely on opioids for pain management. However, this strategy comes with several challenges, with opioid dependency being a significant concern. Fortunately, numerous alternative pain management strategies can help you avoid opioids while recovering from a motorcycle accident.
Opioid Crisis Overview
The United States is grappling with the worst drug epidemic in its history – the opioid crisis. The current epidemic has its genesis in the years of over-prescription of opioid-based painkillers such as OxyContin and Percocet by the medical profession.
Since 1980, deaths from opioid overdose have increased by at least 1,000 per cent. In 2017, over 70,000 fatal overdoses were recorded.
By 2023, the number of overdose deaths had risen to over 107,000. The opioid crisis is decimating individuals, families, and communities’ quality of life and economic opportunities.
While illegal drugs such as heroin and fentanyl are to blame for a large proportion of the deaths, prescription drugs are still a huge problem. Therefore, it’s essential for patients seeking medical attention after a motorcycle accident to be vigilant about the dependency potential of any pain medication they receive.
Side Effects of Opioids
Opioid use, even under medical supervision, can pose risks. The side effects are dire; they include:
- Nausea,
- Dizziness,
- Slowed breathing and
- Cognitive impairment
Additionally, when one uses opioids over time, they can develop tolerance for the prescribed doses, a physical dependency, and opioid use disorder, which increases the risk of death by overdose.
Why Alternative Pain Management is Important
The potential side effects of using opioids for pain management are incredibly dire. Therefore, patients need to consider using alternative pain management methods and techniques. Any pain management plan aims to improve your quality of life, functioning, and independence.
However, patients need safer, effective pain management options that reduce reliance on potentially addictive medications.
1. Physical Therapy for Pain Relief
Physical therapy can help patients regain strength, improve mobility, and ultimately reduce pain through targeted exercises. Stretching, strengthening, and other physical exercises increase blood flow and your range of motion, improving the oxygenation of your muscles and nerves, thereby enhancing your body’s ability to recover and heal from motorcycle accident injury.
This approach to pain management is highly beneficial to patients as it allows you to address the root cause of your pain. Rather than merely dealing with the pain, physical therapy will enable you to work on the root cause of the pain. Additionally, it promotes healing and reduces the need for pain medications.
Types of Physical Therapies
While every physical therapy technique is effective in dealing with certain types of injuries, the following methods have proven effective in helping patients deal with pain:
- Stretching
- Strengthening exercises
- Manual therapies (including massages and joint mobilization)
- Ultrasound therapy
- Electrical muscle stimulation
- Resistance exercise
2. Chiropractic Care for Managing Pain
Chiropractic care involves spinal adjustments made through micro-adjustments to move joints and bones gradually. Micro-adjustments gradually move the joints and bones, relieve pressure on muscles and nerves, and reduce pain caused by spinal misalignments or injuries from a motorcycle accident.
Conditions Treated
Some of the conditions chiropractors can help their patients deal with include:
- Neck pain
- Back pain
- Joint pain
Chiropractic care provides paint patients with a non-invasive treatment option. Moreover, it provides a drug-free pain relief mechanism rather than relying on opioids.
3. Massage Therapy and Pain Management
Massage therapy helps alleviate muscular tension and promote relaxation, reducing pain caused by soft tissue injuries from a motorcycle accident. A typical massage therapy will increase blood circulation, interrupt the pain cycle, and release natural endorphins in your body, alleviating muscle tension and promoting relaxation.
Types of Massage Effective After a Motorcycle Accident
- Deep tissue massages
- Trigger point massage
- Lymphatic massage
- Medical massage
- Myofascial massage
Massage therapies can improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, and promote faster healing without medication.
4. Injections for Pain Management
Therapeutic injections are used to treat painful areas of muscles suffering from inflammation, nerve damage, muscle knots, or trigger points. The injections are generally safe and contain numbing medicine and steroids that help treat the issues afflicting patients recovering from motorcycle accidents.
Types of Injections Offered
- Nerve block injections
- Facet joint injection
- Epidural steroid injections
- Joint injections
- Sacroiliac joint injections
- Corticosteroids injections
- Sympathetic nerve blocks
One of the main benefits of pain injections is they provide long-term solutions without resulting in invasive options such as surgery or long-term oral medications.
5. Pain Management Through Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques
Studies have shown that regular mindfulness practice can help reduce a patient’s pain experience. By helping patients focus on the now and without judgment, patients are better able to handle the negative thoughts and worries that are often associated with motorcycle accidents. As such, they negate getting mood swings that are common among patients with chronic pain.
Mindfulness Techniques that are Effective in Pain Management
- Meditation
- Deep breathing
- Progressive muscle relaxation to reduce pain intensity and improve overall well-being
Mindfulness can reduce stress and anxiety, both of which can exacerbate pain. A relaxed and stress-free patient is better able to deal with pain in the short and long term.
6. Non-Opioid Medications and Over-the-Counter Options
When managing pain after a motorcycle accident, non-opioid medications and over-the-counter options can provide effective relief without the risks associated with opioid use.
- Non-Opioid Pain Relievers – Not all pain medication is made from opioids. Numerous over-the-counter pain medications are safe and effective in treating pain, such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aspirin) and acetaminophen, for managing pain.
- Topical Treatments – Topical treatments are also a great and effective pain management option. Patients dealing with pain can use creams, gels, and patches for localized pain relief without the need for oral medication.
- Prescription Alternatives – Other non-opioid prescription options, such as muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatory medications, can help patients deal with their pain as they heal, negating the need for opioids.
7. Creating a Personalized Pain Management Plan
Ultimately, the best way you can avoid relying on opioid-based pain medication while dealing with pain is to have a personalized pain management plan that suits your condition and needs that were caused by a motorcycle accident.
To this end, you need to:
- Consult with Medical Professionals: You should work with experienced healthcare providers specializing in pain management to develop a plan tailored to the individual’s specific injuries and needs.
- Combination of Therapies: Highlight how combining different therapies (physical therapy, massage, etc.) can provide comprehensive pain relief. Your personalized pain management plan should combine different therapies (physical therapy, massage, etc.) to benefit comprehensive pain relief. Since different therapies accord different benefits, combining them enhances their overall pain management benefits.
- Monitoring Progress: Finally, you should prioritize tracking pain levels. This will allow you to adjust treatment plans and stay engaged in your long-term recovery journey and pain management without resorting to opioids.
Call Today for Experienced and Trusted Care for Your Motorcycle Accident Injuries
With the opioid crisis ravaging families and communities around the country, motorcycle accident victims must be mindful of the potential pitfalls of using opioids for pain management.
Drawing from our vast experience in post-accident recovery and pain management, at Chicago Personal Injury Centers we encourage our patients to seek professional help from a personal injury treatment center to develop a safe and effective pain management plan.
Contact us today for personalized alternative pain relief from motorcycle accident injury and recovery solutions. Call today at (773) 482-5800. We also welcome walk-ins.
