The phenomena seem quite striking which are reported in the paper, “Acute inflammatory response via neutrophil activation protects against development of chronic pain,” by Marc Parisien et al. Sci Transl Med. 2022 May 11; 14(644). These authors showed in animal models that painkillers like corticosteroids and NSAIDs, but not analgesics like morphine or lidocaine which lack anti-inflammatory effects, end up prolonging pain, because without neutrophil activation being allowed to happen as part of an immune response, acute pain may become chronic. A clinical study confirmed that among patients whose lower back pain had become chronic, it was exclusively those who had been treated with NSAIDS who went on to develop neuropathy. Was this a valid study with broad implications about the unexpected downside of anti-inflammatory medication for moderating pain? What is Creator’s perspective?

This, indeed, is a quite shocking and dramatic illustration that seems to turn pharmacotherapy on its head, that what medicine has been doing all along to rush to prescribe painkillers might be backfiring and actually contributing long-term harm to people in pain. This study was carefully done and the results are quite meaningful and can be broadly applied to many clinical health situations where the onset of acute pain, if not handled in an appropriate way can be, in effect, cemented in place through use of common painkillers like NSAIDs and corticosteroids to produce long-standing neuropathic pain that will become debilitating.