Since pain is a normal every day occurrence, most often people who experience pain do not find a need to consult a doctor at all. This is understandable especially when the pain is infrequent can be attributed to an identifiable cause such as pain from a wound, a toothache, a stomach ache due to hyperacidity, joint ache caused by arthritis, or muscle ache from overdoing a gym workout. These types of pain are common and are usually tolerable. And if it tends to get somewhat annoying or unbearable, people just take popular over-the-counter pain killers and everything is fine again. Everyone does this and there is no harm in doing it a few times but everyone should know that pain killers have side effects. They should not be taken for granted and even the over-the-counter ones are not meant to be taken indiscriminately. As with all other types of medication, caution should be observed when taking pain remedies. It should also be emphasized that these pain killers are not to be used for long periods of time or for pain management by persons with chronic pain without consulting a pain management doctor first.
This rampant disregard for possible harmful effects makes each one of us guilty of misusing and overusing pain killers. So let us explore some of the improper ways of taking pain killers that we usually consider harmless.
First, many of us take over-the-counter pain killers like candies. We take one pill and then another and we don’t stop until we start feeling a little better, without paying attention to the proper or maximum dosage. Sometimes, we think that one pill is not enough and that by taking two or three at a time, the effect will be stronger and the pain will go away faster. We should keep in mind that if one dose of pain remedies does not do anything for the pain, then taking two of those won’t help either. If pain remedies does not kill the pain or if the pain keeps on recurring, then it’s probably time to seek a doctor’s advice for pain management.
Second, some of us are not particular about the type of pain remedies that we take. It has become a habit for people to combine or mix different kinds of pain killer without checking labels and contraindications. Mixing usually happens when we run out of the specific pain remedies that we are taking and then we substitute it with any kind of pain killer that is readily available. There are also others who are unsure of which pain killer to use so they decide to take a few different kinds all at the same time.
Lastly, a common oversight is to take pain remedies with other medication without first consulting a doctor. This is dangerous because different types of drugs react differently and combining them will sometimes cause harm to the body. That is why in every case, a pain management doctor should always be informed of the different kinds of medication you are currently taking so that the right pain killers and the correct dosage can be prescribed.