The Staggering Statistics of the Opioid Epidemic | Podcast Ep. 156

Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. I AM your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid. This week we are talking opioids. This is an episode you do not want to miss. We are going to break down some of the staggering statistics. We are going to talk about where your practice fits in and also some of the changes that have occurred heard in the literature and with some major health organizations in the last 12 to 24 months. Also, big shout out to Logan University. I had the opportunity to head up there last weekend and do a really a full day social media for chiropractors workshop where we shot video, we wrote, you know, we really broke it down. So, you know, a huge, huge thank you to tj, Tyler, the entire crew up there and all of the students who came out. It was overwhelming response. I think we had a ton of fun. And if you want to see what went on behind the scenes, you can check that out at the evidence based chiropractor YouTube page where I put a roundup video up and there'll be more to come there as well. Last night had the annual holiday party for the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Myself and Paul, my videographer, went out, had a good time with our wives and that was cool. Paul does a great job with all of the video and he helps me out to make sure that it looks as good as it does. And certainly I appreciate you for listening as we close in on the end of 2018, which seems absolutely crazy. I believe we are closing in on a half million total downloads of this podcast, which is awesome. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you your time, I appreciate you your interest and I'm going to do my best to ensure that we keep up super high quality rolling through to 2019. If there's any topics that you'd love to have me address, shoot me an email jeff@the evidencebasedchiropractor.com and I would be sure to dive in, check it out and see if it's something we can talk about. But for today we are talking opioids. And as I said at the top, there's a couple kind of staggering statistics that I think are important to set the table regarding opioids. Then we can dive into practical application with what we do as chiropractors. Number one. I started looking at this just a couple weeks ago because it's gonna be a big topic for the smart chiropractor next year, which is a kind of a social media product that I'm involved in. And when I started to look into it, was shocking. Today we're looking at a quarter million individuals who have died due to opioid use. Quarter million in the last 15 years or so. And it's accelerated dramatically. It was near 50,000 people last year died due to opioid use. Nearly 50,000 people. Place that in the context of the safety of what we do as chiropractors and it just becomes, it's outrageous. There's no other way to describe it. The other statistic that I found was 75% of drug overdose deaths are due to opioids. A vast majority of drug overdose deaths are due to opioids. Additionally, fentanyl, you might have heard of fentanyl. There's patches, multiple forms. You got pill form, you can have it in patch form. They do it in compounding creams even, although those have become less popular because of some government restrictions. But at any rate, fentanyl can be compounded up to 50 times more potent or powerful than the street drug heroin. Imagine that, the pain relieving power of that drug. And this gets into why up to 20% of individuals who take an opioid will become addicted. They are exceptionally powerful medications and drugs. They do a great job at turning off the pain signals in the brain and releasing a bunch of dopamine that makes you feel great. And that is a slippery slope towards addiction. When you're looking at a drug, you know, again, fentanyl, specifically an opioid like that, it's processed in a laboratory so they can make it exponentially stronger than anything that would be derived, let's say, from a plant or derived from a natural resource, so to speak. So it's outrageous how strong these medications can be. And that becomes a really, really challenging thing for the people who begin taking them because they can get their hooks in people very, very quickly. Now the good thing is we've seen in the last year or nearly every major health organization step up to the plate and say no opioids for non cancer pain. They should not be used for spine and musculoskeletal complaints. And that's an important thing we see in American College of Physicians. We've talked about, we've talked about American Pain Society, Harvard Health. There has just been a vast array of major health organizations that have stepped up and said enough is enough. And when we look at the statistics that we just talked about, there's no question that enough is enough. And back pain is one thing. But let's break down, I wanted to just break down some pragmatism with this. Let's break down headaches, for instance. And opioids. Yes, opioids. Previously not as commonly now thankfully, but you will still see people with chronic headaches occasionally taking opioids. And I think it's important that we take it step by step and break down how we fit in and just how ineffective that is. So, so let's talk about this. When we look at headaches, the most robust classification are tension headaches. So meaning more people suffer with tension headaches than any other type of headache. Well, what do we know about tension headaches? Tension headaches typically are postural in nature. They are, you know, they have muscle spasm that is, you know, tech neck. We look at ergonomics in the workplace, we look at long commutes, stress and strain and poor positions and long hours at a computer. So these are very biomechanical, so to speak. And now let's talk about that. I think it's important to take it a step further, right? Individuals who are taking a medication for attention based headache but not doing anything to combat the stress, not drinking more water, not getting better sleep habits and not getting reduced muscle spasms with adjustments or with range of motion exercises, they're gonna keep taking more medications because they're not doing anything at all to address the underlying problem. So what happens? Well, their body sensitizes to the medication. Maybe it's an NSAID to start it all of a sudden, quote unquote, it's not working anymore. Well, it's because the body's sensitized to it because nothing has been changed underlying to help the person get over the hump. Right? This is when that slippery slope of opioids can start to come into the picture. And guess what happens? It's still just an exceptionally powerful drug. It's probably going to work for a short period of time. But again, if none of the underlying factors involved with cause of the tension headaches are addressed, this is the slippery slope that people deal with low back or headache for that matter. But with headaches, then we look at the other side of this picture with the literature. Right? Okay, so what are some things that can be done naturally? Well, they're not, you know, they're not anything that's gonna surprise you. I can tell you that right now. Drinking water dehydration is a common cause of tension and migraine headaches. Drinking a single glass of water has been shown to start relieving symptoms within 30 minutes. Take a rest. People's sleep cycles are all out of whack. And there is a strong correlation between a lack of sleep and an increased frequency and severity of headaches. So this is not, you know, this is not, you know, rocket science to find out what's going on with individuals as well. You know, getting adjusted helps with a lot of this stuff. We see ergonomics and muscle spasms in the shoulders causing tension headaches daily for some people. And by getting an adjustment we have seen in the literature, getting adjustment can decrease the frequency of headaches, decrease the severity of headaches, decrease the intensity of headaches. Well, why is that? Certainly it's because muscle spasms are reduced post adjustment, which is important. Improved range of motion is important. Some reassurance that somebody's on the right track is important. And then if you're going into active care, if you're going into exercises, fitness, if you're addressing ergonomics, these are all things that start to come together to create real health, real healthcare, where you're not relying on a medication that is, quite frankly, maybe gonna work for a short period of time. You shouldn't be on them long term anyway. But people end up in that slippery slope. And that is where you and I can stand at the precipice of that point and be an option for those people in our community. But to be that option, we also need to be the pulpits. We need to be out there, you know, spreading that message and letting people know that, that our office may be the right place for them. There are many people that if they have taken an opioid in the past, that, ooh, I'm way past what a chiropractor can take care of. I'm already onto medications. I might have even had an injection. People don't know unless you tell them. So understanding these statistics of the opioid epidemic and pandemic, understanding simply as we broke down today specifically with headaches, what are some simple tips? What are some simple natural things people can do? Post it on your Facebook page, Do it quick video on it. There's a lot of different ways you can go about getting this information out to the people in your community. If you want help with that social media marketing done for you is the smart chiropractor. So you can check that out. The smart chiropractor.com but take the information that you hear on this podcast, take the information that you see on the EVNs based chiropractor Facebook page. Get it out there to the people in your community, starting that conversation. In the case of opioids, this is not being overly dramatic. You can literally save lives 20% addiction, up to a 20% addiction rate. 50,000 people nearly dying per year, 75% of drug overdose due to opioids. You start having these conversations with the people in your community and you might never be able to identify that person, but I will nearly guarantee you that over time you will save a couple people's lives and that there is nothing more important that any of us could do, but something to that level. But it starts with getting out there, having those conversations, talking about it and letting people know that your office may be an option. You're gonna do your examinations, you're gonna take that case history. You're gonna make sure that they are once they get there. But that first phone call, that first step into your office is the hardest thing for many people to do. And it's on us to get out there, start those conversations and make sure we are doing our best to serve our community. So I hope you have a fantastic week in practice. If you have not had the opportunity to put some feedback, ratings or reviews for this podcast on itunes, I would encourage you to do so. It helps more chiropractors find it and listen, which is awesome. And also this is now available on Spotify if you're listening there. Thank you a ton. But it's available on nearly every podcasting platform, so you can check it out all over the place. And also you can always connect with me, jeff, at theevidencebasedchirofractor.com head over to the Facebook page, the YouTube page, or Instagram and I'll be happy to connect with you. I hope you have a great week in practice and I'll talk to you soon.

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