Medication and Pain Management

There's a great variety of medications that are used to treat different types of pain. You can run across prescription, non-prescription, over-the-counter and herbal medications used for analgesic purposes. Whatever is the case it is important to follow your doctor's exact indications and inform him about any other drugs or substances that you are currently taking in order to avoid interaction. The mechanism of action varies greatly across the spectrum, some drugs even take up to a couple of weeks for achieving the effects.

Types of medication for pain management

Your doctor will prescribe you with a certain pain medication type and see if it's effective. It all depends on your personal situation and the condition causing pain. Some of the most common choices for pain medication are:

• Painkillers (analgesics) – these drugs are used to treat a wide range of pain symptoms and also prevent inflammation.
• Antidepressants are sometimes used to treat chronic pain. Not all antidepressant drugs have analgesic effects and only your doctor is able to conclude whether it will be useful for you.
•  Corticosteroids are used to alleviate pain during inflammation.
• Oral medicines are sometimes used to numb pain.
• Anticonvulsants are used in cases of neuropathic pain.
• Painkillers with direct skin application (so-called topical analgesics) are used for surface pain types.
• Capsaicin is a natural chemical that is found in chili peppers.
• Opioid analgesics (narcotics) are used in cases of severe or chronic pain.