New AHA Pain Guidelines Say Hold the Pills

Among several new guidelines issued by the American Heart Association, there is a radical new view of the best way to treat chronic pain: hold the medication. The Washington Post reports that the AHA now advises doctors to withhold medications to treat chronic pain until other treatment options have been exhausted. What other treatment options? Exercise, orthotics, weight loss, physical therapy and hot or cold packs, for starters. The association is particularly skeptical about the risk to reward value of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs (such as naproxen and
ibuprofen), and COX-2 inhibitors (Celebrex).  Read a Q&A about the risks and rewards of NSAIDs.