What Is the Best Way to Manage Pain Without Pain Meds?

If her doctor prescribed the pain meds, why wouldn't you give them as prescribed? A broken tail bone is extremely painful. Honestly, it is almost abusive to NOT give her the medication as prescribed. Please talk with the doctor if you are uncomfortable (are you addicted to pain meds?) - but come up with an adequate solution rather than forcing a 10 year old to suffer needlessly.

She broke a bone. Give her the medication her doctor prescribed. Ask the doctor what to be careful of about dosage/side effects if you are nervous.

a broken bone and you don't want to give her adequate pain relief?
follow your doctor's advice. please.
why do you assume she's going to be on them for a long time?
khairete
S.

Is there a reason we are unaware of that you don't want the RX in your house or are you paranoid that she'll become addicted?

You can safely use pain meds and not become addicted. In my experience, I only used the stronger pain meds such as Vicodin, etc at night or when the pain level was out of my tolerance level.

You can quickly wean to Advil, Aleve or Ibuprofin in a reasonable time.

I would not withold an RX from my child if I knew she was in severe pain.

It's concerning that you're so adamant about this which leads me to think someone in your family may have an issue with RX and you don't want it around for their safety.

Talk to the Dr, maybe he can change the RX to something you are more comfortable with but please don't allow your daughter to lay there and suffer. That's mean.

She has a broken bone so no, pretty much pain meds are it and nothing else. Just monitor her pain, if she doesn't need them every 4 hours like the bottle says, push it to 6, even 8. When I had my knee surgeries I only took the Vicodin at night when I really needed it.

My goodness, give the poor kid her meds and don't go off the deep end with some hoobly joobly all-natural blah blah blah because some random internet person says it's "safe"... She can prob wean down to Tylenol and/or Advil after several days or a week. I promise your daughter won't turn into a junkie using pain meds as prescribed for a legit injury for a week or two.

Why would it be for a long period of time? Just let the poor child have the meds her doctor prescribed AS NEEDED. That sounds like a very painful injury :-(

She will not and can not get addicted to pain meds if you give them to her as prescribed. Your daughter is suffering horribly right now and pain meds are safe when used as prescribed.

I was on Percocet every 4 hours around the clock when I had knee surgery for about 3 weeks. Then next 2 weeks I took the meds every 6 hours finally weening down to just taking meds at night. I did not become addicted. Your daughter will probably only need the meds for a few days. Why did you not discuss your fears with her doctor and pharmacist? They could have eased your fears and your daughter would not be suffering as much right now.

Holy cow, give her the pain meds. I lived with horrible tail bone pain for several years and it was the worst pain of my life. Pain meds, ice, and donut pillow will just take the edge off so imagine what the pain would be like without the meds.

Fractures are worse than broken bones. Give the girl her medicine. She will not get addicted as the doctor prescribed a small number of pills.

I once fractured my tailbone and it was the worst pain in the world. Giving birth had nothing compared to this pain and you can't sit properly and HURT. Give her the pills.

Keep us updated.

the other S.

Attitude matters. When taking pain medications (and my daughter has taken innumerable pain meds with doctors' supervision), it's important to watch your attitude and your words.

By that I mean, education and moderation are important. You don't just casually tell your daughter to take a pill. You don't leave the pill bottle lying around. Since she's 10 and not 4, you take the time to tell her that pain medications can be helpful but it's extremely important to follow the doctor's orders, and follow any of the cautions on the bottle (pharmacists often add stickers to the bottle that say things like "don't drive while taking this medication" or "take this medication with food [or plenty of water"). Help her carefully look at the bottle of pills and the pharmacist's leaflet that came with it.

Help your daughter evaluate her pain level (use that smiley face/frowny face/angry exploding face chart), and help her keep track of the time she took a pain pill. Note it on a white board or in a notebook or something. That way she'll say "oh I just took one 3 hours ago and it says one every 6 hours", or "hey yesterday I needed 3 pills but today I only needed 2. That's improvement".

And teach her how important it is to keep her pain pills in a very safe place, and never to share them (even with a family member). Don't just tell her that the pills will make everything better, but that they are a tool in the whole toolbox of recuperation (which includes rest, following all the doctor's orders concerning how to sit and how to move in order to lessen the pain and not aggravate the injury, and anything else the doctor instructed. Read through the papers you probably got at the emergency room or at the doctor's office (they often give you a pre-printed page called "so you have a bone fracture" or "now that you've been diagnosed with a concussion" or "what is strep throat?", etc).

She probably won't be on pain meds for a long time. But pain is extremely physically fatiguing (my daughter went to a pain management clinic for a long time and we learned about the side effects of pain), and it can be depressing, and if it's not managed well it can interfere with recovery.

If your attitude is that the pain meds are one tool in the toolbox, or one arrow in the quiver, and if you speak honestly with your daughter about medication safety and proper respect for powerful medications, she'll develop a healthy attitude towards them and not think of them as the answers to everything (like some kids grow to think that any meds will help them stay more alert even if the meds are for their diabetic grandmother or their sibling's chronic illness).

I fractured a bone once. It is extremely painful. PLEASE for the love of your daughter. Give her the prescribed pain meds. Pain management is a simple thing. You only take the meds while you are in pain. You don't wait until the pain is unbearable. It should take perhaps a few days for her to perhaps not need as much of the pain meds but she does need them. So please give them to her.

I have a high threshold and tolerance for pain. When I fractured my bone, I took the xrays without meds but after that was done I wanted and needed the shot, pill, liquid or whatever pain meds the hospital was offering. Your child won't get hooked on the medicine if they are being administered with common sense and intelligence. If you were in her level of pain you would gladly take the medicine. The first 3 days were the worst and especially at night.

Hi A., I bruised a tailbone once. I was in total agony so I can't image a fracture! I don't know of an alternative to pain meds for this kind of injury. I'd give her the meds on the doctor's recommended schedule to make sure she always has an adequate amount in her system. Also, make sure to give her a stool softener. Pain meds cause constipation and that's the last thing she needs. I wish her a quick recovery. I know it is so hard as a mom to see our kiddos hurt. Blessings to you!

Poor kid!
A broken tailbone is excruciating pain - and it's hard to find any position that doesn't hurt.
It will heal eventually but there's nothing for it except the pain meds in the mean time.

Are you talking narcotics or over-the-counter pain relievers?

Can you not use ibuprofen or acetaminophen? I used to give a dose of Advil, then Tylenol, spacing them apart - for when my children had surgeries such as their adenoids out. The pediatrics team recommended that when we were discharged.

Narcotics .. I have taken for severe head pain with migraines, or when I had my surgeries. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving those to my kids either, unless it was absolutely necessary. However, your doctor would best know. It probably would not be for long would it? Even after my surgeries, I was only on them for a few days tops.

I don't know of any natural pain relievers other than hot pads, cold pads, etc. depending on what the hurt is. I just would want to spare my kids the discomfort or pain if I could.

Good luck

For the first 48 hours, ice is her best bet. 20 min on, 20 min off for an hour. Take a break, then do it again.

As for your hesitation, for me it would depend on the pain med. Tylenol or ibuprofen in prescription strengths I would give without a second thought. If they prescribed narcotics, then I would give the dr a call back to discuss why they thought that was the best choice (but in the meantime, give her the medication, don't make her suffer).

No. Her tailbone is used for everything. She needs to sit on an air ring, pillows, and everything she can to keep the pressure off.

BTW, this is that one, that injury that hardly ever goes away. She will hurt when she sits all day in desks at school, she will hurt when sitting in bleachers at college football games, she will ache from sitting behind a desk all day at a sit down job.

A broken tailbone is one of the most painful things to go through. Give her Motrin first. It's an anti-inflammatory med and it should make the nerve endings less aggravated. Tylenol can be used at the same time, just don't give it at the same time. Like every 2-3 hours you can give the other med. Please check with your pharmacist for that time frame though. A lot depends on the size and metabolism of your child.

Then, the medicine they gave her. What is it? It is super strong narcotics? I would think at age 10 it would be something like Tylenol with Hydrocodone or Codeine in it. Those take good care of pain in kids.

I broke mine over a year ago and it still hurts a lot. There are days it doesn't bother me at all then all of a sudden I'm in pain so bad that I have to take something for pain or just stand all the time.

I can understand why you don't want your daughter to use them. My sister had two back surgeries and although in her mind she was not addicted, her body was (she had terrible withdraw symptoms if she missed a pill and when she stopped taking them).

Using them for a few days to a couple of weeks should not cause this problem. If she is in a lot of pain I would not withhold them from her. Just have her keep tract of her level of pain and as it subsides you can give her less.

Talk with the doctor about what she can take. When I had my c-section I only took Tylenol (I react badly to most pharmaceuticals), it worked just fine for me, but I can tolerate the pain.