The United States is currently in the midst of a crisis of opioid misuse and overdose deaths. Former NFL players are increasingly open about their troubles with prescription opioids. Under pressure to perform in spite of injury and pain, doctors and athletes sometimes used anesthetics and pain relievers to allow professional athletes to play more comfortably. When opioids are used in this way, athletes are at risk for future opioid misuse.

What is the role of opioids in pain relief?
Patients in other countries (and many if not most patients in the United States) experience adequate pain relief using few opioids. Nociception is the physiology of actual or potential tissue damage. Pain is the unpleasant thoughts, emotions and behaviors that can accompany nociception. The intensity of pain for a given nociception is largely related to stress, distress and less effective coping strategies. Greater pain and more prolonged opioid use is associated with psychosocial factors. The best pain reliever is peace of mind and opioids should be used in the smallest doses for the shortest time possible.

Are opioid medications dangerous?
The last three decades’ experience with increasing opioid use reaffirms how addictive and dangerous they are. Surgeons in the United States tend to give more pills than people use. That can lead to using the pills for fun rather than for pain relief, which leads to problems. Unused pills can be diverted to friends and family or sold and misused.

Tiger Woods’ recent DUI is a good example of how dangerous these medications can be. Opioid medications when taken can lead to mental impairment and are dangerous when operating a motor vehicle. They are addictive and can slow and even stop your breathing, which can kill you.