(CNN) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first new type of pain medication in more than two decades, and it’s not an opioid.
The drug is suzetrigine under the brand name Journavx.
It is now FDA-approved to treat moderate to severe acute pain, which is usually caused by injury, trauma or surgery.
Pain is registered in your body through nerve endings, which carry a signal to the brain.
Journavx would prevent those pain-signaling nerves from firing in the first place.
This is different from how opioids work because they just dull the sensation of pain in the brain.
Doctors also believe there is no risk in people becoming addicted to Journavx because it doesn’t create the high that opioids sometimes can.
However, doctors warn Journavx may not be for everyone, such as those with chronic pain.
The FDA said some of the most common side effects reported among study participants include itching, muscle spasms and rash.
The last time the agency approved a new painkiller was in 1998.
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