According to American Medical Association, the nation’s drug-related overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen.

The Hill (9/21, Coleman) reports, “Physicians have prescribed 44%” fewer “opioids over the past decade, yet fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses have continued to climb, according to a new report (PDF) from the American Medical Association (AMA)” that “documented a 44.4% decrease in opioid prescriptions between 2011 and 2020, with a 6.9% reduction between 2019 and last year, with more” physicians “using prescription drug monitoring programs.” Nevertheless, CDC data revealed that “more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, including about 69,000 from opioid overdoses,” representing “a record high and an almost 30% increase in overall fatal overdoses from the prior year.”

Wisconsin

No one wants to live in pain. The nation’s COVID pandemic made the nation’s drug overdose epidemic worse.  In addition, the spread of the deadly opioid fentanyl made drug use far more dangerous.

Doctor-prescribed opioids are appropriate in some cases, but they only mask pain — and opioid risks include depression, overdose, and addiction, plus withdrawal symptoms when stopping use.

That’s why the CDC recommends safer alternatives like physical therapy to manage pain. Insurance carriers no longer require referrals which allows greater access.

Physical therapists are movement experts who treat pain and improve quality of life through hands-on care, patient education, and prescribed movement. They help people manage or eliminate pain and reduce the need for surgery and pain medicines, such as opioids. By increasing physical activity you also can reduce your risk of developing many chronic diseases.

Healing is hard, pain is personal, but treating pain takes teamwork.

When it comes to your health, you have a choice. Choose more movement. Choose better health. Choose physical therapy!