Pain Pills
(Photo : Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay )

Painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin can do "more harm than good" for chronic pain, health experts said Monday.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said there was "little or no evidence" that said the commonly used painkillers used for chronic pain make any difference to a person's quality of life, pain, or psychological distress.

However, the NICE draft guidance said there was evidence that common painkillers can harm, like addiction, reported The Guardian. The draft guidance was published on Monday.

The NICE said these common drugs showed little evidence that they work against chronic pain. Thus, it should not be prescribed for a pain disorder, health experts said.

According to The Sun, chronic pain is a kind of condition that cannot be linked to any other diagnosis or is a symptom of an already existing disease. It can lead to disability, with pain being felt in the muscles and bones and sometimes all over the body.

Health experts said this could also lead to depression. The NICE noted that about a third to half of the U.K. population are affected by chronic pain. Almost half of these cases have been diagnosed with depression, and two-thirds of them cannot work because of it.

To fight chronic pain, the NICE urged doctors to prescribe exercise, psychological therapy, or acupuncture to their patients, said a Yahoo Finance article. 

The NICE also urged doctors to develop a care plan that is unique to their chronic pain patients and build a "collaborative, supportive relationship" between them.

Abusing Painkillers

Last year, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was very concerned with doctors giving pain drugs, sleeping pills, and antidepressants to patients.

Figures showed that 13 percent of adults were given the painkillers, opioid that has a good chance of being addictive. Opioids have been one of the drugs most commonly linked to addiction. Many have abused it, experiencing euphoria and withdrawal symptoms.

Misuse of opioids can lead to risky respiratory depression, where the lungs fail to work well.In the U.S. alone, more than 67,000 people died from a drug overdose in 2018, and 70 percent of them were involved in prescription or illicit opioids. 

Patients Look for Clear Chronic Pain Cures

Nick Kosky, chair of the guidance committee, said patients are looking for a precise treatment that does make them feel better. The complex conditions can be a very "challenging" thing for doctors to manage.

Kosky said there could be an adverse effect on the mismatch in patients' expectations of health care and what is given to them when treated. To be specific, it will have an impact on how patients get along with health care workers.

One of the harmful effects of this mismatch is that doctors may be able to prescribe ineffective but harmful drugs to their patients to get what they expect.

With the new guidance, Kosky is hopeful that this will change the way patients expect how they will be treated for their chronic pain. In turn, it will help patients trust their health care workers more. 

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