One year ago, Troy Mazur of Warren couldn't walk into chiropractor Dr. Michael Lyons' office without a cane.  

Troy had used the cane for years to get around. Back in the 80s, he was injured at work. He underwent six different hernia surgeries, which made it difficult to get around and had become reliant on opiates to control his pain.

"I thought, 'Well this is what I got to do in order to deal with the pain,' and it actually wasn't working," Mazur said.

For years, he relied on a morphine equivalent dose of 600 mg per day to function. Within a year of working with several doctors, including Dr. Lyons, Mazur now only needs less than 20 mg a day.

The management of his chronic pain was recently featured in the Ohio State Chiropractic Association documentary, "A Different Approach to the Opioid Epidemic."

"A lot of people in Troy's position usually have a lot of fear, and they fear the pain so badly that it is hard for them to give up that medication," said Dr. Michael Lyons with Advanced Chiropractic & Physical Therapy.

According to research, the number of prescriptions for opioids has more than doubled in the last 15 years, and fatal overdoses from the drugs have soared. As Troy's case manager, Dr. Lyons believes a comprehensive approach to pain management is necessary.

"We have mountains of literature that show spinal manipulation, therapy and rehab is very effective and has great long term outcomes.  So, I think you are going to start seeing a push to go in that direction," said Dr. Lyons.