The Path To Curing Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction is known in the medical community as a chronic disease. Unfortunately, this means that there is no proven way to cure it. However, this does not mean that there is no way for you to end your opiate use and become drug-free.

You Must Seek Treatment

The first step in ending opiate abuse and moving toward what you might call a cure is to seek opiate treatment. The chances of successfully ending an addiction to opiates without professional help are incredibly small. Getting addiction treatment, though, is proven to stop opiate use and prevent relapse when it is properly applied. This means that treatment is your best chance of moving toward a cure.

What Options Work?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are many treatment options that have proven effective in ending heroin addiction. These options include behavioral therapies, medications, and various other approaches.

However, only medications and behavioral therapies are considered to be medically proven. These options must form the basis of any successful opiate treatment.

Participation and Support

When you are working toward curing opiate addiction through treatment, you will discover that that there are two key things that can mean the difference between success and failure. Those are participating in your treatment and having a strong support structure.

Addiction professionals know that being active in your behavioral therapy sessions, taking all medications as prescribed, and building a network of family and friends that support your recovery gives you the best chance of becoming opiate-free.

What the Future Holds

Though there is currently no proven means of curing opiate addiction, there is hope for the future. Research continues on how opiates interact with the brain to cause addiction and work towards a cure continues. Until a cure is found, professional addiction treatment will remain the only effective way to end opiate abuse and help sufferers take back their lives.

Curing Opiate Addiction with Alternative Medicine

Opiate addiction is a very serious disease that affects countless individuals and families. While there is currently no cure for this disease, it is possible to end opiate abuse and avoid the consequences related to it. Alternative medicine plays a very large role in this process.

What is Alternative Medicine?

According to the Mayo Clinic, complementary and alternative medicine is a constantly evolving field with many treatments being added and removed from this label on a regular basis. However, the medical community considers any treatment that is not considered mainstream to be complementary and alternative medicine. Nevertheless, these treatments can be very important parts of opiate treatment.

What Alternative Methods are Used?

There are several alternative medicine options when it comes to opiate treatment. Those that have shown to be the most prevalent and effective are:

• Acupuncture
• Massage therapy
• Art therapy
• Shamanistic or spiritual healing
• Herbal remedies

All of these treatment options are considered to be alternative medicine and have been shown effective in many people attempting to recover from opiate addiction.

Why You Should Consider Alternative Treatments

Opiate addiction is a very complicated disease. No one treatment works for every person or in every situation. This is why, when looking for ways of curing opiate addiction, you consider every possible method.

Alternative medicine options can prove successful when conventional treatments are not. They also support traditional approaches, making them more effective.

Just Get Help

Regardless of whether you choose to use conventional treatments, alternative medicine, or some combination of both, it is essential that you get help as soon as possible. While curing opiate addiction may not be entirely possible, stopping its use and returning to a healthy and productive life are. Professional addiction treatment is the only proven way to achieve this result.

Curing Opiate Addiction by Treating Co-Occurring Disorders

Opiate addiction is considered a chronic disease. This means that curing opiate addiction is not considered to be possible, medically. However, it is entirely possible to end opiate use, prevent relapse, and return to a drug-free life. Getting professional help that includes treating co-occurring disorders is one of the best ways to accomplish this.

What are Co-occurring Disorders?

To understand how treating co-occurring disorders can end your opiate addiction, you need t know what they are. In medical terms, co-occurring disorders are any two or more medical conditions that affect a person at the same time. In the case of opiate addiction, these disorders are most often other mental illnesses, but chronic pain is found in ever-increasing numbers.

Why They Need to be Treated

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, co-occurring disorders can greatly complicate the addiction treatment process. If these disorders are not identified and addressed during the course of opiate treatment, the likelihood of permanently ending the drug abuse is greatly reduced. Fortunately, most addictions treatment professionals recognize this fact and include screening and treatment for co-occurring disorders in their treatment protocols.

Finding the Right Treatment Facility

Now that you understand the role that co-occurring disorders play in opiate addiction and treatment you need to know how to find a treatment facility that can address this as successfully as possible. The best way to do this is to ask questions.
It is up to you to determine if any facility is equipped to test for and treat any co-occurring disorders that you may have. This is an essential thing to do when looking at curing opiate addiction.

Why Treatment Cannot Wait

Opiate addiction and many related co-occurring disorders are often progressive diseases. This means that the longer that they continue the worse that they get and the harder it is to overcome them. Additionally, every day that you keep abusing opiates you are at significantly greater risk of developing serious complications or dying. It is imperative that you get opiate addiction treatment that addresses co-occurring disorders today in order to avoid these consequences and have the best chance of a healthy and happy life.