Dr. Romeo uses a multi-pronged approach to significantly reduce this risk by ensuring you do not become overly dependent on one type of pain relief medication. When opioids (such as oxycodone and hydrocodone) are prescribed as part of a comprehensive pain-management strategy, Dr. Romeo is careful to limit the amount and duration of this medication and monitor any signs of dependency. However, in a recent study, Dr. Romeo and his team looked at a large national database of patients who were having shoulder surgery to determine what could be associated with opioid addiction after shoulder surgery. One out of seven patients who did not use any opioid medications before surgery and then used them at the time of surgery were still using them six months after surgery. The numbers are higher for those who were on these medications before surgery, have a history of depression, drink alcohol regularly, or have depression. Using our multimodal approach, patients will not need opioid medications after 7-10 days except in special circumstances.