Chronic Pain and Addiction Treatment in Indianapolis

How is chronic pain treated when someone in Indianapolis also has a substance use disorder?

When someone in Indianapolis has chronic pain and a substance use disorder, the pain is usually treated alongside the addiction, with pain and addiction clinicians sharing one plan rather than working apart. Chronic pain and substance use disorders often occur together, and decisions sit with the clinicians and the patient.

Coordinated care means the pain prescriber and the addiction team agree on medicines, doses and follow-up. Options can include buprenorphine or methadone for opioid use disorder, and buprenorphine also has pain-relieving effects. Non-opioid medicines, physical therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy or other psychological approaches may also be part of the plan.

Indiana law bars the state from allowing new opioid treatment programs, so methadone in Marion County comes through programs already operating. See methadone clinics in Indianapolis and Suboxone clinics in Indianapolis. Indiana Medicaid’s telehealth rules allow buprenorphine for opioid dependence to be prescribed by telehealth, unlike other opioids. Remote options are listed under telehealth rehab in Indianapolis.

Cutting a long-term opioid or benzodiazepine prescription without the prescriber’s input is not considered safe, since a sudden drop can bring withdrawal and a return of pain. A free starting point is the county health department’s outreach program at 1650 N. College Avenue (317.221.4618), which opens with an assessment.

Is it safe to stop or reduce pain medication on my own?

Stopping or cutting long-term opioid or benzodiazepine prescriptions on your own is not safe, and any taper should be planned with the prescriber. Physical dependence on a prescribed medicine is expected with long-term use and is not the same as a use disorder. A sudden drop can still bring withdrawal and a return of pain. Benzodiazepines carry their own risks, especially when taken with opioids, and need the same careful planning. The Marion County Public Health Department’s “What are friends for?” campaign points residents to naloxone at pharmacies and other locations in the county.

Where can someone in Indianapolis start, and how is care paid for?

Free starting points in Indianapolis include the Eskenazi Access Line and the Marion County Public Health Department’s Substance Use Outreach Services. Outreach Services begins with an assessment at 1650 N. College Avenue (317.221.4618). Indiana 211 is a general referral line: dial 211 or text your ZIP code to 898-211. In a crisis, call or text 988. In Marion County, 988 can dispatch a Mobile Crisis Recovery Team at any hour. The national treatment referral line is also free. IndyGo buses, including the Red Line and Purple Line rapid routes, reach the downtown and Near Northside campuses.

Paying for pain and addiction care

Indiana Medicaid, also called Indiana Health Coverage Programs, includes the Healthy Indiana Plan and Hoosier Healthwise. Anthem, CareSource and Managed Health Services are the plans for both. Ask your plan which levels of care and which medications for opioid use disorder it covers. Programs that take it are listed on our Medicaid page. Private plans fall under federal parity rules for substance use benefits. People without coverage can ask about funding through the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, and programs are listed under state-funded rehab in Indianapolis.

Questions to ask a program

Intake staff should be able to answer three questions:

• Does the program treat pain and substance use together?
• Can it continue or start medication for opioid use disorder?
• Will it coordinate with your pain prescriber?

Each listing shows services, payment types, insurers, accreditation, languages and populations served. About two in five listed programs sit within 25 miles of a river, most often the South Fork Eel River. A quarter are within 25 miles of a park such as Reverend Mozel Sanders Park. For a wider view, see pain and addiction treatment across Indiana, the national pain and addiction guide, or all Indianapolis treatment listings.