Chronic Pain and Addiction

Most people strive to avoid physical pain, but it’s important to remember that pain sensations often serve a purpose for the body. The pain pathway is a critical alarm system that protects your body from serious injury. Opiate pain medications are used to treat both acute and chronic pain, and consequently it might be expected that abuse of these drugs can interfere with the natural functioning of the pain pathway. Here we will examine the relationship between addiction and pain.