Opiates are among the strongest, most addictive drugs in the world.   To overcome opiate addiction, the individual must undergo professional drug rehab.   The first step in many of these addiction treatment programs is drug detox.

Opiate drug detox is the process of ridding one’s system of the harmful toxins found in drugs such as heroin, opium and prescription painkillers that include Vicodin and OxyContin.

Different Types of Opiate Drug Detox

There are two types of opiate drug detox that everyone who is struggling with addiction should be aware of:  natural and medical.

• Natural opiate detox.   Natural detox is, in a sense, nothing more than “going cold turkey”.  However, the natural detox process takes place in the care of medical professionals who help the individual overcome withdrawal symptoms and provide support during what can be a challenging time.
• Medical opiate detox.   The medical opiate drug detox process involves using a synthetic opiate (most often Methadone) to help gradually ease the individual off of the opiate.   The individual is given smaller and smaller doses of the synthetic opiate until their physical addiction to the original drug has depleted.    This process involves fewer withdrawal symptoms – which makes it attractive to those who have tried to quit cold turkey and relapsed.

The Importance of Opiate Drug Detox

Drug detox is an incredibly important aspect of recovery from opiate addiction.  Without the completion of detox, the individual is simply not in the mental or physical state necessary to continue on with counseling and the rest of the drug rehab process.   In fact, opiate detox is so important that many drug rehab centers will not admit patients to the facility until they have completed detox.

It is worth noting however that detox does NOT constitute recovery from addiction.   Detox is but an important piece to the puzzle.   In order to effectively treat addiction to opiates, one must examine the core reasons behind why they use drugs, and develop strategies to a healthier life without drugs moving forward.   These are the types of things that comprehensive opiate rehab programs provide (and that detox centers are not equipped to handle).