Surprising Alternatives to Opioid Painkillers.
As health care providers turn away from addictive opioid painkillers, other classes of drugs with painkilling properties are filling the gap. Gabapentin, duloxetine, ibuprofen, and non-narcotic analgesic medications are among the most commonly prescribed painkillers. Health care providers are also increasingly employing other types of pain therapy that don't involve pills, such as pain-relieving gels or patches or other holistic therapy treatments. Despite the changing trends, the opioid drug crisis has not gone away.