Oxycontin is a powerful opiate based painkiller that is prescribed to treat a variety of different pain conditions in people. It is powerful enough that the effects of the drug mimic that of heroin, and people who are unsuspecting can easily become hooked on it.

Just because a drug is legal does not make it any less addictive, nor does it lower the potential for addiction and abuse. Those who take this drug for pain or even use it for recreation should realize that there are risks involved in terms of becoming addicted to it.

The problem with a powerful painkiller like this is that in fact it is only masking the pain, not truly treating it. What this means is that the opiate drug in Oxycontin does not actually do anything to reduce the pain itself in your body, but only masks the pain signals by doping the brain. This can become a real problem over time if the pain is recurring or chronic, because the body will eventually start to develop tolerance to the drug.

When that happens, Oxycontin addiction becomes a real possibility because now the person who is taking the opiate to mask their pain will find that the drug is not working as well as it once did. In effect, they might find that they can take a higher dose or simply take more of the drug in order to get the same level of effect that they used to get when taking the pill. so tolerance is developed and a downward spiral begins. At this point it might even lead to questionable activities and manipulation in order to get more of the drug, just so the person can stay properly medicated and avoiding any degree of pain.

Taking powerful opiates to manage chronic pain is a losing battle. Essentially you are making a decision: do you want to feel the pain now, or do you want to feel it later? Most people prefer to not feel it right now so they take the opiates. But eventually the opiates will wear off and the chronic pain will still be there. So the question becomes: “How can we manage chronic pain without resorting to powerful opiates such as Oxycontin?” There are alternative methods to coping with chronic pain and treating it in different ways and so the best solution is to explore those possibilities and try some new solutions. There are a lot of non narcotic medications that can treat pain, as well as several different therapy techniques and alternative medicine solutions that can help out a great deal. Finding a doctor that is willing to explore these options might be an important part of avoiding addiction.