If you have not been referred to a pain clinic then I would strongly advise you to get yourself a referral. They will not just put you on opiates straight away. There are all sorts of different painkillers you can try ranging from anti inflammatorys, anti depressants to opiates. There are also different ways of administering the medications such as gels and dermal patches etc. They also offer holistic therapiea also so it may not always be about meds meds meds they offer things such as tens machines, acupuncture and all sorts of other stuff.