In this video, I’d like to address another question about medications that I received. This one was in regards to tramadol. The questioner wanted to know if tramadol was safe to take and was it a good pain medication for lower back pain? Tramadol is an interesting medication and we are going to talk about what it is, who and how to safely use it, and if you should use it.
Hello this is dr grant cooper from princeton spine and joint center in this video i would like to address another question about medications that i recently received this one was regards in regards to tramadol the questioner wanted to know if tramadol was safe to take and was it a good pain medication for lower back pain now tramadol is an interesting medication
And we’re going to talk about what it is who might benefit from it and how to safely use it and should you be using it first i need to remind you to please like this video and subscribe to our channel to help us continue to grow in order to reach and ultimately to help more people thank you now tramadol was first approved in 1995. it wasn’t initially considered
An opiate it is to be sure now considered a synthetic opiate or opiate agonist it also increases the concentrations of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain in 2014 the fda designated tramadol controlled substance which indicated its potential for abuse and or addiction the fda gave tramadol a schedule for medication designation as opposed to oxycodone which is
A schedule 2 designation just as an example which then this this indicates that oxycodone is a an oxycodone is a more is a very common narcotic and this indicates that oxycodone is more addictive and has a higher potential for abuse than tramadol tramadol is indicated for moderate to severe pain because tramadol is a synthetic opiate or opiate agonist it has all
The same potential side effects and problems as other stronger opiates such as vicodin percocet oxycontin oxycodone tramadol can also cause dizziness headache constipation nausea vomiting fatigue sweating you can become physically and mentally dependent on tramadol you also shouldn’t be uh generally be taking tramadol if you’re taking other serotonin medications
Such as antidepressants furthermore tramadol is not as strong of a painkiller as stronger opiates like vicodin percocet or oxycodone for example now sometimes i encourage patients to think of tramadol as like narcotic light right that is it has all the same effects of other narcotic pain medications including pain control side effects abuse and addiction potential
But all of those things are just less less pain control less abuse less side effects so if you’re having serious pain that would otherwise require a narcotic medication then tramadol can be an excellent option to help control the pain of course tramadol is not actually fixing any underlying problem right it’s a straight-up painkiller so if you do use it then it’s
Important to hopefully also have a plan to address the underlying issue so that you can stop taking the medication as soon as possible sometimes tramadol is used for post-operative pain control after orthopedic surgeries as a gentler option to stronger narcotic medications many doctors think of tramadol as a good pain control medication option in patients who
Don’t respond adequately to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or or i should say and or to tylenol or who can’t take these medications for any reasons sometimes tramadol is also combined with tylenol or an or non-steroidal for pain control an important point in taking at all is having a plan to come off of it and the best way to come off of it is again to have
An effective plan for treating the underlying problem for my own prescribing i can say that i hardly ever prescribe narcotic medications as a general rule except for with tramadol tramadol really is my go-to medication when there’s serious severe pain that we need to control for a few days or even for a few weeks while we get a handle on the underlying problem i
Haven’t personally seen addiction or abuse issues with tramadol at least not to my knowledge but tramadol definitely always carries that risk and as such all of its risks as well as potential benefits need to be fully discussed with your doctor as they would be with any narcotic medication okay that’s it i hope you found this video helpful please remember to like
The video by clicking the thumbs up button subscribe to the channel and if you have any questions you can email me at dr cooper at princetonsjc.com or feel free to leave a question or comment in the comments section thank you very much i will see you in the next video
Transcribed from video
Tramadol Explained By Princeton Spine \u0026 Joint Center
