It Starts with a Signal: Understanding Pain, Addiction, and Treatment

The number of opioid related deaths in the US is on the rise and health care providers often struggle finding a balance between prescribing guidelines and the individual needs of patients with acute and/or chronic pain. It's imperative that clinicians seeing patients with pain are knowledgeable about acute and chronic pain pathways and underlying mechanisms so that they may appropriately assess and manage pain.

However, it can be difficult and daunting to evaluate patients with chronic pain, as the nervous system is complex and knowing which type of pain the patient is experiencing - neuropathic, nociceptive, or nociplastic - is the best guide for where clinicians should focus their treatment choices.

When assessing risk, studies have shown that gender plays an important role in pain, pain perception, and opioid use. Women are more likely to gain access to opioids through medical treatment. Not only are women prescribed opioids more often than men (53% vs. 46%), but this number increases with age. Often there is a lack of attention to underlying causes of opioid disorder, particularly past sexual or emotional trauma, which can put women at a significantly higher risk for addiction and relapse.

In this free 4-part Snack, expert faculty highlight the importance of helping patients function better, educating clinicians on the biological underpinnings of pain and the underlying mechanisms to assessment and appropriate management, and the effect of gender on a patient's proclivity to substance use disorders and engagement in treatment.