General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Medicare Is Cracking Down on Opioids. Doctors Fear Pain Patients Will Suffer. [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,124 posts)Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2018, 07:34 PM - Edit history (1)
Best practices, ignoring regulations imposed for non-medial reasons, address two things:
Pain relief is crucial to healing
Staying ahead of the pain is far easier than driving it back once it is present.
From my contacts with people who have had rotator cuff surgery, it is an extremely painful surgery for a brief period. I am not aware of any pain medication other than opioids, in the face of acute pain that is capable of shutting it down quickly enough to stay ahead of that kind of pain. /And trying something else first leads to entrenched pain when it is insufficient, countering the two elements of post-surgical pain relief.
Opioids should not be needed for an extended period of time - but I would not consent to rotator cuff surgery with a doctor who refused to provide adequate pain relief, up to an including opioids. (And since I've been dealing with rotator cuff pain since July that is not a theoretical response.)
ETA: The other poster said non-prescription. While that includes no opioids, it is a lot broader than just no opioids.