Medication for pain control can truly be a blessing.  However, chronic reliance on medication to mask certain types of muscle, joint and spinal pain can be worse than the benefit derived.  Chronic pain is a signal that the body is out of sync and desperately needs help.  Chronic musculo-skeletal pain often points to biomechanical problems.  (Biomechanical meaning human body mechanics.)  In such instances the body can be out of balance causing repetitive stress or strain to an injured or chronically painful area. Because of this strain the body will not heal.  The chiropractic orthopedist attempts to find and correct such areas of imbalance to restore proper function and reduce pain.   I would caution anyone against taking pain medication on a repetitive basis while underlying problems may go untreated.