By: Seomul Evans
Submitted: 2012-01-08 08:07:30 | Word Count: 507
A majority of pain management specialists admit to prescribing placebo medications to patients who are suffering from pain especially when there is actually no remedy available for their pain or ailments. Stemming from the theory that pain can be controlled by the power of the mind, pain management specialists believe placebo medication will greatly reduce pain if the patient actually thinks that the medication will make him well or will make the pain go away. In cases when pain arises from a condition that can not be remedied, pain management specialists believe that there is nothing wrong with using this form of psychological approach. After all, pain is a product of the mind. If taking a useless pill can give some degree of relief to patients who are suffering from pain, then it may be considered a remedy, albeit unconventional.
Many people think that placebo medication is acceptable as it is quite harmless. However, a pain management specialist should always keep in mind that placebo medication should be resorted to only if it is the only way to help the patient deal with pain. It should not be used to quickly dismiss an annoying patient but only if the method is completely advantageous and necessary for the patient.
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Utmost discretion should be used before subjecting the patient to placebo medication. More importantly, a pain management specialist should never tell the patient that the prescribed medication is a cure when it is not. Rather, the patient should be told that there is only a possibility that the medication will help the patient manage the pain. Failing to emphasize this point might lead the patient into thinking that he will be cured, giving him false hope.
Pain management specialists must also make sure that the prescribed placebo medication has no adverse side effects on the patient. If there are side effects, a pain management specialist must be absolutely convinced that these side effects will not outweigh the benefit the patient will get out of taking placebo medication. If there will be more harm than good, then placebo medication should not be resorted to. Extreme caution should be taken by doctors in prescribing placebo medication by using only the most harmless drugs. This is difficult especially nowadays since practically all kinds of drugs have side effects.
Recently, the practice of prescribing placebo medication has gained popularity among pain management specialists because of its seemingly positive effect on patients. Placebo medication for pain finds no difficulty in getting acceptance in the medical field since it is well-established that pain is triggered by the brain through brain signals that are sent to the nerves. A psychological approach on treating pain only means that the brain will be used to control pain. When the brain is led to believe that the medication will help alleviate pain, there is a strong possibility that it will also lessen the sending of pain-causing brain signals. This means that the patient will experience less pain because his brain tells his body that the pain will go away.
