Do you take analgesics (pain pills) for your chronic headaches?
If you do you are not alone, but you may be surprised to learn
that the pain-killers you're taking may actually be promoting
your chronic tension or migraine headaches.
What should you do when you have a tension or a migraine
headache? What should you do when you are experiencing chronic
pain? Take a pain pill, right? WRONG! Most people don't have a
second thought when it comes to taking analgesics for their
chronic headaches or other assorted aches and pains, but
research from the St. Louis University School of Medicine
demonstrates that "analgesic use seems to be the primary factor
in promoting the development of chronic pain." It was found that
painkillers, instead of helping relieve the chronic pain, can
actually be the cause of it.
"The best thing a person with chronic headaches can do is get
off the painkillers," says Paul Duckro, associate professor of
psychiatry at St. Louis University. "In our studies, two-thirds
of the chronic headache sufferers benefited from the withdrawal
of medication." Two-thirds of the chronic headache sufferers not
only did not get rid of their headaches with the medications
they were taking, but increased their severity through the use
of analgesics.
"Evidently, at a certain point in a chronic sufferer's intake of
analgesics (including aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and the
stronger narcotic painkillers), the headache becomes
drug-induced. In an irony of biology, a substance intended to
reduce pain becomes a factor in producing it." Ibuprofen is the
"pain-relieving" ingredient in Advil, Motrin IB, Nuprin and many
other headache medications. Acetaminophen is the active
"painkilling" ingredient in Tylenol. You should be aware that
these popular medications may be hindering your recovery from
your chronic headaches. And even worse, the medications that are
supposed to be relieving your pain may actually be the cause of
it.
According to Duckro: "The person takes some aspirin, but the
pain increases. So the person takes some more aspirin. Then the
person begins to take aspirin in anticipation of the pain,
thinking, 'If it's this bad when I'm taking medicine, it's going
to be unbearable without.' Gradually, the person - and it's more
often a woman - gets a headache whenever the medicine is not
being taken." (Duckro is director of St. Louis University's
Biobehavioral Treatment Center, which has its own headache
management program).
Dr. William Bennett, head of nephrology at Oregon Health
Sciences University, estimates that over-the-counter painkillers
are responsible for as many as 20% of the 125,000 cases of
end-stage kidney disease in the United States. All drugs have
side effects. These can include dizziness, lightheadedness,
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, liver damage, kidney damage,
internal bleeding and many other symptoms including death. We
have always known and recognized these possible negative
consequences from ingesting drugs (unless we don't read the
labels), but we continue to take these analgesics by the mega
millions with the hope of relieving our pain and discomfort.
There is no guarantee that if we take a pain pill for our
chronic migraine
headaches, stomach aches or other types of pain it will
actually eliminate the pain. There is also no guarantee that we
won't experience unwanted reactions to the drug itself. But when
the pain gets so bad we often decide that the possible relief
outweighs the risk associated with the analgesic.
But what most of us do not realize is that there may be one more
consequence from taking medication for chronic headaches. We may
find that the analgesics are actually the cause of the symptoms,
that without them we wouldn't be having so many headaches. If
you suffer with chronic headaches you may find that the pills
you are taking are actually inducing your discomfort. And you
may also discover that when you stop taking the medication you
begin to experience fewer chronic migraines. After all,
according to the director of St. Louis University's
Biobehavioral Treatment Center two-thirds of the chronic
headache sufferers benefited from the withdrawal of
medication.
About the author:
Dr. Larry A. Johnson, D.C. has practiced chiropractic for 25
years and has treated many patients with
migraine headaches. He
has patented a unique neck cushion that was designed as a method
of achieving
relief from
migraine headaches. For information about his home
remedy for migraine
