10 Pain-Relief Tools Experts Suggest For Post-Accident Pain

Michele Mirman | Medical Malpractice | December 19, 2025

When you’ve been in an accident — whether a car crash, slip-and-fall, or workplace injury — pain can feel overwhelming. It can keep you awake at night, limit your work, disrupt your family, and cast a shadow over your recovery. I am Michele Mirman, and in my over 40 years of representing injured clients, I’ve learned one powerful truth: pain is not just about the injury itself. It’s about how your body, your nervous system, and your mind respond. 

That’s why I appreciate Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s recent work in It Doesn’t Have to Hurt. His research highlights how modern pain science has changed. We now read about effective, evidence-based ways to manage pain that do not rely on opioids. These approaches focus on supporting the body’s natural healing systems and improving long-term recovery outcomes. These techniques will obviously not work for everyone or for injuries that require surgical intervention.  

In the past, people who had been in an accident often assumed the only path was heavy pain medication and waiting it out. But as Dr. Gupta explains, that approach is changing. He walks through ten tools doctors and pain experts now consider essential for healing—many of which you may be able to begin — under your doctor’s guidance — before surgery or strong medications become necessary, according to his research.

1. Activate Your Body’s Natural Pain Relievers

One of the most compelling insights in the Gupta excerpt is this: your body already has pain-relieving chemicals built in — endorphins. These are our internal “morphine-like” substances that help regulate pain when triggered correctly. 

What this could mean for you: after an accident, you can help your body help you. Gentle walking, slow movement, even a guided breathing session can trigger endorphin release and reduce your pain perception.

2. Movement — Even Small Steps Matter

The old advice was RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation with an emphasis on rest until you’re better. But newer science shows that this approach can sometimes delay healing. Immobilizing for too long may increase pain and prolong recovery. That’s why newer research suggests shifting toward MEAT — Movement, Exercise, Analgesia, Treatment. The idea is that the body heals through movement, not immobility.

Movement does not mean pushing through pain. It means gentle, guided activity that stimulates blood flow and helps tissues repair. As always, your doctor should be consulted and a referral to a qualified physical therapist should be made. But a trained physical therapist may be able to help you restore mobility, re-align muscles, reduce stiffness, and prevent long-term pain patterns from developing. Speak to your doctor about this.

3. Heat vs. Cold — Know when to use each

Many injury victims default to ice — and don’t switch when it’s no longer useful. Here’s what doctors now recommend: 

• Use ice in the first 48–72 hours for acute swelling. Ice for twenty minutes at a time, making sure that the ice itself is not touching your body.
  
• After that, consider heat – a heating pad that you can control for time and temperature — to relax muscles, improve circulation, and prepare you for movement.
  

4. Safe Supplements Under Medical Supervision

Gupta explores how supplements and non-traditional approaches can contribute to pain relief. While they’re not a magic cure, some options may support healing for accident-related pain:

• Magnesium — to help muscles relax
  
• Turmeric/Curcumin — for inflammation
  
• CoQ10 — for cellular repair
  

As always, do your own research and check with your doctor, especially if you’re taking other medications.

5. Non-Opioid Pain Medications

Too often, accident victims are immediately steered toward opioids, which come with dependency risk and side effects. The good news: there are many effective non-opioid options, such as NSAIDs, acetaminophen, topical gels, nerve-pain medications, which your doctor can recommend

6. Non-Opioid Prescription Options

Doctors now have more non-opioid options for managing pain. One new class of medication includes sodium channel blockers, such as Journavx, which reduce pain by blocking pain signals in the peripheral nervous system before they reach the brain. 

Another option is gabapentin, originally developed for seizures but now used to treat certain types of nerve pain by calming overactive nerve cells. It works best for post-shingles nerve pain, but its effectiveness for other pain conditions is limited.

Some antidepressants, particularly duloxetine (Cymbalta), can also help with chronic pain, though they may take weeks to work and do not help everyone. 

7. Injections & Interventional Procedures

When movement and medications aren’t enough, there are targeted interventional options: injections, nerve-blocks, trigger-point injections, regenerative therapies (PRP, stem cells). 

If you’re in pain after an accident, ask your doctor whether an injection could safely reduce pain so you can do Physical Therapy. Make sure you know the pros and cons of any of these procedures, since all procedures do come with risks.

8. Mind-Body Techniques

One of my favorite techniques Gupta writes about is how mind-body approaches like meditation, mindfulness, and brain-training can help break pain cycles. When you’re in pain after an accident, your brain can stay in hyper-alert mode resulting in guarding, stiffness, and reduced mobility. Mind-body work could help reset that.

• Guided meditation for 10–15 minutes daily
  
• Breathing exercises before movement
  
• Simple yoga stretches focused on nervous system calming

9. Ketamine

Ketamine isn’t new. It was first used as an anesthetic in the Vietnam War, and today researchers are exploring how it may help people who are living with chronic pain, depression, or PTSD. Gupta references a large review of clinical studies in 2019 found that ketamine can offer meaningful short-term pain relief for some patients. Again, this is something to explore with your own physician. 

10. Complementary & Integrative Therapies

Other therapies, like acupuncture, myofascial release, foam-rolling, and yoga, may also contribute significantly to reducing pain and improving function.

How I Help You As Your Attorney

As you explore these tools, you may be thinking: “But the insurance company just offered me a quick settlement.” 

Here’s where I step in:

I want to remind you that you may not know the full extent of your injuries at the beginning, whether you will end up needing surgery, extended physical therapy, or a long rehabilitation.

• I help you document your injuries, pain levels, and treatment timelines 
• I negotiate with insurers so you’re not forced to settle early before you’ve had a chance to fully understand the nature and extent of your injuries. 
• I guide you through the legal process so you can focus on your healing, not on paperwork or phone calls.
  

You Don’t Have to Settle for “Just Getting Better”

Often, clients tell me, “I’ll just live with a little pain after the accident.”

But what I’ve learned — and what Dr. Gupta’s research supports — is that you can aim for a meaningful recovery. You don’t have to accept living with pain as your new normal. You should always seek medical advice and second opinions.  

Most importantly, don’t sign any settlement until you feel confident you’ve explored your recovery path and know the full extent of your injuries. 

If someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you don’t have to carry the burden alone. I am committed to helping you. Let’s take this next step together.

Contact me, Michele Mirman, at (212) 227-4000 or visit mirmanlawyers.com