Continued use of pain killers results in a resistance from the body. Which is why over time (years) you will require stronger and stronger pain killers. Its not tne pain getting worse but your body resisting.

Depending on your bodies ability to process these chemicals, organs may or may not get damaged.

As you know, the stronger pain killkers are addictive. (opiates and morphines)And if you get to a point of using these regularly, you may experience withdrawal pain, which is totally unrelated to the original pain it is trying to treat.

I have worked in the NHS and seen first hand what pain killer mismanagement can do. And you are right to question the long term effect of taking pain killers.

Painkillers are only designed for acute or short term use, and if your pain is trigger pain, then pain killers will not help it.

Sports physios are very good at locating the origin of pain and treating it successfully with a variety of manipulation techniques and massage. They don't recommend strong painkillers, and you would only need a few sessions. They can also show you how to treat yourself, so that you get immediate treatment when you need it. They will also advise on how to make your environment safe to accommodate your injuries.

Aromatherapy has excellent reports for relaxation and may help to relieve some stress. Stress makes the body tense and tense bodies feel pain. Other forms of relaxation may help to.

Meditation gives your brain time out, clears away negative thoughts and allows you to focus on important issues.

Simple pilates or yoga stretches the body and reaches areas long forgotten. Even the breathing exercises help if the actual exercises are beyond your bodies acceptance just now.

Unfortunately successful pain management gets the best results from a multifaceted approach, of which pain killers could be one element. They should definitely not be the only element, and should be used sparingly initially until you have assessed which other methods help your body.

Try this simple stretch : lie on your back with legs together and arms by your side. Mentally divide body into 1/4 at waist. Very slowly and very gently stretch your left foot away from the body as far as your pain allows. Very gently and slowly return to start position. Even half an inch is good. Repeat with other leg. Slide arm down side of body as far as pain allows and return to start position. Repeat with other arm.

Repeat each limb but hold position for count of 3.

Then pull leg into hip, hip can move, as far as pain allows and repeat with other leg.

Then pull arm up into shoulder, shoulder can move towards ear, as much as pain allows.

Repeat this set with a hold for 3.

This can be repeated 2-3 times a day, and can be used as a warm up for any modest activity like walking, gardening etc.

It doesn't matter if the stretch is not equal on each side, what matters is that each side gets further or is looser than the time before.

Good luck