Sir, Reaching for an appropriate analgesia when someone tells a doctor that he or she has a pain sadly epitomises today’s approach to relying too much on medicines (letter, May 30). Certainly there may be times when the suppression of pain is appropriate, but there are more times when the tolerance of pain can be the best possible healing process.
The reason we have pain is to limit movement and to stimulate the body’s natural ability to repair whatever it is that is causing it. Both of these functions are over-ridden by a pain suppressant. Sometimes the natural healing process takes longer than the quick-fix painkiller but the naturally stimulated cure is longer lasting.
Dan Green
Ewell, Surrey