ently for pain than they do for depression," he says.
Not only do these drugs enhance patients' ability to inhibit pain sig-
nals, they can also be used to treat pain like arthritis. For example,
the depression and anxiety drug Cymbalta is approved for muscu-
loskeletal pain, which includes knee arthritis and lower back pain.
"Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs work very well, but they work
much better for nociceptive pain, and really are better for acute pain
rather than chronic pain," says Dr. Cohen.
Other non-opioid treatments to reduce pain include 4 to 6 weeks of
physical therapy in conjunction with non-opioids like muscle relax-
ants and integrative treatments such as acupuncture.
"Of course, the use of these treatments depends on the patient, pain
condition and the severity of the pain problem," says Dr. Ng.
OSM
M A Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 3
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Accu-mark
™
Improve fluoroscopy
guided injections with...
see it in action: w w w . b i t . l y / a c c u - m a r k e r
"I can mark the patient faster than any
other method... Easy to use."
- Musculoskeletal Radiologist, FL
Clearly visible under x-ray
Clearly marks injection sites
Radiopaque Site Marker
