Are long-acting opioids like Methadone Oxycodone and Fentanyl effective treatments for chronic pain?

Are long-acting opioids like Methadone Oxycodone and Fentanyl effective treatments for chronic pain?

Marc Darrow (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Joint Rehabilitation Sports Medical Center, Inc. ) gives expert video advice on: Are narcotics safe and effective for managing chronic pain?; Is there a danger of addiction when using narcotic medicine for pain? and more...

There's quite a bit of disparity among doctors as to whether or not to use very long-acting analgesic medications; pain medications. The reason for that is that some doctors are afraid of the addiction potential, whereas other doctors feel that you have to get hold of the pain and grab it before it really rises up its ugly head and then forces a person to take these more short-acting types of medications. When patients take these short-acting medications, they'll have an immediate decrease in pain and then when it wears off quickly, they're going to have a spike and then they're going to reach for more short acting pain medications (analgesics) that will force them into an addictive cycle of using these medications.