An addiction is the inability of being able to stop using something. There are many different types of addictions such as alcohol, shopping, food and pain medications. The most common form of addiction is cigarette addiction, millions and millions of people smoke and they cannot stop. When the craving for something is so stronger that it wins over not taking it that is addiction.  Drug addiction is the second most common form of addiction. Pain medication is the third strongest addiction.  Some people take so much medication for something like an accident and when the injury heals and the prescriptions stop, then the addiction kicks in.

There are three terms that have become intertwined with each other and some people think they mean the same thing when all three are three separate entities. The first one is tolerance, tolerance means that your body has adapted or accepted the use of a drug. When a person builds a tolerance, it means that the drug or substances no longer has that affect on the person. If the person has adapted to the use of a painkiller, then a higher dosage must be given in order for the drug to work.

Physical dependence is when the body has adapted to the fact that a drug in present and that you may feel a sense of withdrawal when the drug leaves the body. There are drugs that are considered addictive such as Vicodin and Oxycotin and then there are drugs such as beta-blockers and corticosteriods that are deemed non addictive but the body can be physically dependent. Meaning that you can still feel withdrawals when you stop taking the medications.

Then there is the term addiction, addiction is a disease and people need help in order to take control and to cure it. Addictions are dangerous to you physically but mentally as well. They also hurt the people around you. Here are some examples of addictive pain medications. Codeine, Morphine, Oxycodone, Demerol, Duragesic and Darvon.
 
For additional information and resources on Chronic Pain, visit PainsWeb.com. The author Sam Carson is a chronic pain patient and publisher of PainsWeb.com. His website specializes in conveying targeted information about all types of Chronic Pain and helps you find associated information, patient resources and forums etc to manage your pain. Authors can submit quality original articles to PainsWeb.com and get a back link to their site.