As this month's feature story shows, good friends also can help enormously in the management of chronic pain. I think often of that woman who bounded into our office, her pain finally contained. She's a great reminder that there's real hope, that there are real answers. Back to top Message from October 2000 Pain medications may not enhance your quality of life. It's a difficult question many people with chronic pain face every day.
Narcotic medications do have a part in chronic pain management.
Occasional doses can be helpful, promoting rest and relaxation by breaking the cycle of pain. But taking them regularly can actually diminish your quality of life. Continual use of narcotic pain medications can interfere with these aspirations, causing problems such as addiction, physical dependence and tolerance, in which a person needs increasing doses to achieve the same effect. Furthermore, research shows that taking large quantities of narcotic medication can interfere with the body's ability to produce endorphins, natural pain killers. We produce endorphins most readily when we're active.