Chronic Pain and Addiction Treatment in El Paso

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

Chronic pain in someone with a substance use disorder is treated through coordinated care, which in El Paso means a person’s pain prescriber and addiction team work from one shared plan. That way, medication changes, therapy and follow-up don’t pull in different directions.

A clinician may discuss 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 can sit alongside these options, and decisions rest with clinicians and the patient.

Physical dependence after long-term prescribed opioids is not the same as a use disorder, and a clinician makes that assessment. The county’s local mental health authority runs a medication program for opioid use disorder at a west side clinic, 725 S. Mesa Hills Dr., and asks patients to be willing to detox from opiates or alcohol.

Buprenorphine prescribers appear on the Suboxone clinics in El Paso page. Video visits are listed under telehealth rehab in El Paso. Stopping or sharply cutting a long-term opioid or benzodiazepine prescription on your own is unsafe, so plan any taper with the prescriber.

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

Stopping or cutting a long-term opioid or benzodiazepine prescription abruptly is not safe, so plan any taper with the prescriber. Sudden changes can bring withdrawal and a flare of pain. Benzodiazepines taken with opioids also raise the risk of slowed breathing. El Paso programs that coordinate with an outside pain prescriber can help keep one dosing plan in place.

Texas Health and Safety Code 483.102 lets prescribers prescribe naloxone directly or by standing order. A prescription can go to a person at risk or to family and friends. NaloxoneTexas, affiliated with UT Health San Antonio, offers free naloxone and training.

How do I pay for and start pain and addiction treatment in El Paso?

The free first stop in El Paso is the Emergence Health Network OSAR program at 8730 Boeing Dr. in east El Paso, at 915-242-0555. The program screens and refers Texas residents 13 and older regardless of ability to pay. Texas Medicaid works through managed care, and El Paso STAR plans are El Paso Health, Molina and Superior. Ask your plan how it covers medication for opioid use disorder and each level of care. Private plans generally fall under federal parity rules. People without coverage can look at state-funded rehab in El Paso.

Programs listing pain and addiction services across El Paso sit at about 3,910 feet. All are within 25 miles of a named summit, most often the Franklin Mountains, a median of 10.4 miles away. El Paso International Airport is the nearest major airport for all of them, a median of 4.3 miles off.

Questions to ask an El Paso program

Three questions narrow El Paso options quickly. 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? Bilingual care is listed under Spanish-speaking rehab in El Paso.

In a crisis, call or text 988, or call the Emergence Health Network hotline at 915-779-1800, answered 24/7. 2-1-1 Texas also points to state-funded help. For care across Texas, see pain and addiction treatment in Texas. You can also read the national pain and addiction guide or browse all El Paso listings.