Are narcotics safe and effective for managing chronic pain?

Are narcotics safe and effective for managing 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...

Narcotics are excellent to get the patient over that hard spot when they've had a new injury and they're in a lot of pain. I don't like seeing people take narcotics for chronic pain, because they're not going to heal them; they're going to move into more of a depressive state, they're going to be more sedated, they're going to get addicted, and they're going to get constipated. We have so many side-effects from narcotics that are negative, and narcotics just don't really do the job of getting a person better.