I see you have never been in any real pain, ever. What do you get for cancer in Germany? Still ibuprofen?
There's a reason opioids exist and were such a revolution in medicine. They really work. Ibuprofen et al are fine for what they are, but anti-inflammatories can only do so much. We should be able to solve the over-prescribing and addiction issues as a society without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
"I've had some back pain and got prescribed opiates, now i'm addicted"
We're not talking about getting some opiates after surgery or severe and mostly rare things. Americans get opiates for all kinds of small inconveniences, like a wisdom tooth removal, or some back pain. Opiates don't heal or fix back pains. They just mask the symptoms and create a new problem.
I've been in a lot of pain in my life and never took any opiates, because they are reserved for extreme situations where i live. In america, i would have had easy access to prescriptions for those in most cases.
We have no opiate crisis here.
I really don’t think forcing needless suffering on everyone is the answer to this problem.
Source: had six very painful teeth extractions, with bone grafts and two sinus repairs. I was almost pain-free on 600mg ibuprofen + 600mg acetaminophen every 6 or so hours. I say "almost" because I was not dumb enough to try any type of exercise, or eating crunchy cereal, but I had no problem falling and staying asleep or going back to work in 24 hours.
So I am not entirely sure why you think opiates were necessary or provided you the type of relief that OTC meds could not provide. My double-board-certified, extremely expensive dental surgeon doesn't seem to think so.
I also had abdominal surgery, for which I can concur opiates do help quite a bit, which is entirely separate story.
Sweden sounds the same as germany, you get 800mg ibuprofen and normal 500mg paracetamol.
We DO have opioids for cancer pain.
I guess not. My point still stands though. Americans in Germany whine all the time about not getting "proper" pain medication. It's an attitude problem.
I have been in pain multiple times, mostly broken bones, wisdom teeth, tendons and the like, and in the moment it doesn't feel good to only get ibuprofen.
But most pain is not too much to take and it's ok for you to feel it. It's better than getting an addiction problem for life.
As you say it's an over-prescribing issue. Keep opioids only for extreme pain. Not for normal pain.
> If you accept these two basic facts you don't have an opioid crisis anymore.
This is an incredibly simplistic view of a very complex issue.
If you didn't read my response why should I care?
>This is an incredibly simplistic view of a very complex issue.
It's backed by facts though. You can't give out opioids like candy and expect people to be responsible with them.
People don’t give ibuprofen enough credit.