The heroin epidemic that has been sweeping the world is traumatizing to friends and family. In 2014 alone, about 435,000 people used heroin, in one form or another. Many people believe that an addict is an addict purely out of choice. While this may be how the addiction started, many addicts who have a long-standing addiction to drugs like heroin, want to stop. The problem is, they do not know how to stop or where to go for help.

Thankfully, heroin rehab centers are here to help you through this difficult time. At Willow Springs Recovery, we help you get through withdrawal symptoms and overcome your addiction. We offer medically assisted detox programs which use drugs to help taper you off or ease you out of your addiction and back into a healthier lifestyle. We have inpatient and outpatient centers throughout Texas, which can cater to whatever drug-free path is best-suited for your current situation.

What is Heroin?

Heroin, much like morphine, is a substance that is derived from the poppy flowers. Heroin was originally designed by scientists to be a replacement for morphine. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more addictive and dangerous than morphine.

It can come in a few different forms, such as ‘black tar’ which is similar in color and texture to tar, or as a white or brown powder. Heroin also goes by the street names smack, big H, hell dust, and horse. One of the reasons heroin is so widespread is because of the many different ways to use heroin, including injecting, sniffing, smoking, snorting and even mixing it with crack cocaine.

One of the scariest parts of taking street drugs is that there are often things added to the drug such as powdered milk and cornstarch to increase the supplier’s profit. Unfortunately, these additions can potentially clog blood vessels throughout the body and cause serious or permanent damage to the lungs, brain, kidneys, or liver.

The Heroin Epidemic

The heroin epidemic can be traced back to the vast number of people who misuse prescription drugs. Statistics show that nearly 80% of heroin users started with prescriptions drugs and then moved on to heroin. Furthermore, about 116 people die each day from heroin and other opioid based overdoses.

How Heroin Affects You

One of the reasons heroin has become so popular are the effects they have upon their users. After taking it, you user experiences a rush, however, that rush comes with a cost. These side effects may include:

· Dry mouth

· Nausea and possible vomiting

· Cloudy mental function

· Lapsing between semi consciousness and consciousness

· Collapsed veins or damage nasal tissue, depending on the intake site

· Abscesses

· Mental disorders

· Kidney and liver disease

· Overdose, which may lead to death

How You Can Get Help

Here at Willow Spring Recovery, we know that you didn’t plan on becoming a drug addict. Yet, for whatever reason it happened. Whether you suffer from recreational or a self-medicating type of addiction, we can help you. Our experienced staff treats every form of substance use disorder as individual, with a personalized treatment plan. We are even located in a relaxing and peaceful location where you can just get away from it all.

We understand how much of a role stress plays throughout the addiction process and how worrisome it is to try and figure out a way to cover the costs of treatment. That is why we accept more types of insurance and are always looking to expand on the payment options we can provide.

During detox, we help you come to terms with your addiction through cognitive behavioral therapy and realize why you started down the path with drugs, and whether you’re dealing with a mental illness or not. We will also medically monitor you throughout the detox. The thing to keep in mind here is that an addiction is a disease, not just a choice or some type of minor condition, and we treat it as such.

The Withdrawal Process

The withdrawal process is often times considered a long and sometimes painful, but necessary, process. That is why here Willow Spring Recovery, we take steps to try and ease that pain, help you through the sweating and tremors, and reassure you that you are not alone in this fight. There are two accepted and currently used methods to detox from drugs. The first is the medically managed route, where we replace the more harmful drugs with weaker, maintenance style, drugs. These help you avoid most, if not all withdrawal symptoms. The other option practiced is the natural detox, which is referred to as going cold turkey. This method involves making a conscious choice to avoid using more of the substance you are addicted to, without any addiction help. Going cold turkey is far and away the most difficult, and dangerous, method of detox a person can go through, especially if it is not monitored by professionals.

We also recommend distracting your mind through physical activities during either detox path. After your detox, we go through the drug addiction treatment with you on an individualized treatment plan.

 What If I Relapse?

It is incredibly difficult to stay off drugs after you’ve become addicted to them. Drugs do this by rewiring your entire brain and making you think about nothing else but getting your next hit. Physically and mentally, the withdrawals are fierce and might make you want to jump back into the addiction cycle. Above all else, do not give up on quitting. The amazing people here at Willow Spring Recovery can and will help you get back to your real life. We have individual therapy where you would meet with a psychologist or psychiatrist as well as group therapy where you and other recovering addicts meet and talk with a psychologist or psychiatrist. We highly recommend joining Narcotics Anonymous to give you a support group and work through the necessary steps together as well as attending SMART recovery, which is a “Self-Management and Recovery Training non-12 step, secular support group” that can be done over the internet or in person and utilizes behavioral therapy techniques. You can and will live an addiction-free, happy life.

If you need help with your addiction, whether you need heroin rehab, alcohol rehab, or any other type of drug rehab, the health professionals here at Willow Spring Recovery in Texas is the place to go. Through biking, hiking, swimming, and many other physical activities, we can help you become whole once more. Through cognitive behavioral therapy along with one-on-one and group therapy, we help you regain the mental acuity you held before the addiction. The help you want and need is here for the taking, all you have to do is take our hand.