What is Chronic Opioid Analgesic Therapy?
Chronic opioid analgesic therapy, or COAT, is a treatment technique that uses opioids to reduce symptoms of chronic pain. Opioids belong to a class of drug that is usually used to reduce pain symptoms in cancer or post-operative patients. However, recent research has shown that opioids are also highly effective at reducing chronic pain symptoms in sufferers of long-term illnesses. Referred to as chronic opioid analgesic therapy, this treatment has proven to be very successful in fibromyalgia sufferers. However, it is available by prescription only. How do Opioids Work? Opioids work to relieve pain by blocking messages that your body sends to your brain. When your body senses pain, special pain messages are sent by your nerve cells to certain receptors in the body. Opioids attach to opioid receptors in the brain, gastrointestinal tract, and spinal cord, which are responsible for receiving some of these pain messages. Here, opioids block the opioid receptors from picking up the pain mess
