KENNESAW, Ga. — In less than three years, opioid overdose deaths are up 218 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Now, a small company in Kennesaw is hoping to lead the way in the battle against the opioid crisis and it starts on the operating table.
SoftWave Technologies just secured the patent to use sound to keep people safe from opioid addiction.
This isn't a new therapy. Doctors have been using sound waves -- or shock waves -- to break up kidney stones since the 1980s. But, the idea to use the sound to help people cope with pain instead of opioids is brand new.
It looks strange, but CEO John Warlick said this is the sound of relief.
"It simple soundwaves, thunder and lightning," he said.
He's worked with the technology for years to help people regain range of motion, heal old injuries, and even remove tattoos.
"The soundwaves have four different kinds of energy. We have heat, electromagnetic, acoustic and light, and I know this sounds cheesy, but it adds up to H.E.A.L.," he said.
This device delivers quick pulses when applied with ultrasound gel to the skin.
"We essentially fool the body into thinking it's been injured, and your body heals itself," he said.
He's used to patients experiencing relief from pain after the treatment, but said after he started reading more about the opioid crisis in the U.S., he wondered if they could stop the pain before it starts.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates 2 million Americans become addicted to opioids each year.
"We started thinking, how can we help," he said.
He applied for a patent to get SoftWave Technologies in to the operating room to help heal patients before an opioid is ever prescribed.
"Many of these patients became addicts because of a painful surgery or an injury or slip and fall," he said.
Dr. John David Mullins practices at Piedmont Hospital and the Shepherd Center and uses the treatment constantly to help his patients avoid addictive medication.
"We all have that in the back of our mind, a great fear of starting someone down the path of opioid dependence, so anything we can do to avoid that is a welcome part of our practice strategy," said Mullins
The idea is that if there is no pain in the first place, the patient will never need to take it.
"I can't believe no one else had thought of it first, it was this really, really simple application of this low tech technology," he said.
Warlick said if they were able to get in to every surgery that would require an opioid for pain management after healing and the doctors used this instead, they could cut the number of opioids prescribed by half in the country.