Regardless of your addiction, it is the duty of the doctor to help you. So yes your doctor will still help you if you are addicted to heroin or any other narcotic. Most doctors have some training in treating addictions, but will defer to an addiction specialist for some cases. There are doctors and counselors that specialize in the different types of addiction and many that specialize in heroin addiction alone.

Doctor Recommendations

Although your doctor might not treat you for your heroin addiction himself or herself, they will offer recommendations. They know your medical history and may even understand the underlying cause of your addiction. This is why it is important to be honest with your doctor. He will base his recommendations on:

• Your medical history
• Your personal history
• Your latest physical
• Your current symptoms

The doctors job is to help you find treatment for your addiction or at least help you understand it. There are many programs out there for heroin addiction.

Types of Treatment

Specific courses of treatment depend on the type and level of your addiction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, some of the things that doctors and therapists use to treat heroin addiction are:

• Individual counseling
• Group counseling
• Medication management
• Medication replacement
• Holistic medicine
• Acupuncture
• Yoga and exercise
• Herbal medicine
• Holistic therapies

Each of these treatments are available in one of three ways. These ways are:

• Inpatient treatment – this is a residential form of treatment that you stay at while you are in withdrawal and are recovering from your addiction. There are both long and short term treatment centers to cater to both the addiction and your room and board.
• Outpatient treatment – this is nonresidential treatment. You stay at home during this treatment and go to a treatment center periodically. You will go for counseling sessions, doctor’s appointments, and medication management.
• Combination treatment – this type of treatment involves both short term inpatient treatment and outpatient therapy. Once you go through detoxification, you go into an outpatient program. The outpatient program picks up where the inpatient treatment leaves off.

Which of these treatments you choose depends on what type of treatment best suits you and your addiction needs. If you have a job or school to go to, then outpatient treatment is the best for you. If you have many triggers or drug users at home, inpatient might be better for you.

A Word on Withdrawal

Many medications help you through the withdrawal symptoms if you need them. These medications are:

• Methadone
• Suboxone
• Buprenorphine
• Naltrexone

Although some doctors can prescribe these medications, general practitioners usually cannot. It takes a specially certified doctor in order to prescribe many of the medications used to treat addiction. These medications help you through the worst of withdrawal and can solve some of the problems if you have a chronic pain condition.

Where to Find Help

You can find help by calling 800-934-1582(Who Answers?) . We can provide you with information on heroin addiction treatment, addiction specialists, and treatment centers.