Patience or Pills for Pain Relief?

My dad has always been impatient.  One of his favorite jokes when I was growing up was that if he had any "patients", he would be a doctor.  Har, har.  But I find that doctors do tend to have more patience than patients do.  I'm used to waiting for results, but sometimes my patients aren't.I'm a chiropractor, which means that I can't give advice on medication; it's outside of my scope of practice.  People ask me if they should take x, y, or z pain pill, and I can't comment.  I know they trust me and value my opinion, but I'm not in a position to give them advice regarding medication.  But what I can do is tell them (and all of you) that if you have a problem with your biomechanics (which means your pain is caused from moving ineffectively), then waiting for biomechanics to improve so that you feel better takes more time than popping a pill.  But it's important to remember that popping a pill will not change anything about your biomechanics, so you're simply masking the symptoms.If you run out of gas, you don't need to see a mechanic; you need to fill your gas tank.  If your engine stops running, you don't need to visit the gas station; you need a mechanic.  Makes sense, right?  When there is a problem with your MECHANICS, taking a CHEMICAL won't change anything.  It might make you feel better, but it won't change why you felt pain in the first place.  That being said, taking a chemical of some sort might make it a heck of a lot easier to get through the next few days or weeks until your mechanics can improve.  Problems arise when you stop improving mechanics just because you're feeling better.  Moving better will make you feel better, but artificially feeling better doesn't make your movements any better.Changing the way you move takes TIME - much longer than a rapid-release capsule or fast-acting pain pill.  Maybe popping a few pills will help make that time a little more bearable, but don't forget to keep improving upon the dysfunctions that caused your pain!  You likely weren't in pain due to a shortage of NSAIDs in your system.  There was inflammation (and pain) in your system as a result of faulty biomechanics, which can only be improved by movement - whether on your own or with a manual therapist.If you're in Raleigh and hoping to improve the way you move (or decrease your pain - even though we all now know this is secondary to movement), schedule an appointment today!