When Ian Young went to get a massage in August 2008, he had already been living with pain for more than decade. A car accident with a drunk driver in 1997 had left him with lingering discomfort in his neck. Deep tissue massages, along with gym workouts and stretching, were his primary means of treating his pain.

But this massage wouldn't provide any relief. Immediately after, he experienced sharp pain and swelling around his neck. Doctors later told him he had four bulging discs at the top of his spinal column. The diagnosis would lead to a nearly six-year dependence on prescription painkillers.

Young began taking Percocet daily. Percocet is a brand name for the opioid oxycodone; another is OxyContin. Opioids, like oxycodone and hydrocodone (sold as Vicodin), are derived from the poppy plant, also the source of the narcotics heroin and opium. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. is in the midst of an epidemic of opioid painkiller abuse. Deaths from opioid overdoses have tripled since 1999, now taking the lives of more than 16,000 Americans yearly. (Fault Lines examines the opioid epidemic in the U.S. in "Opioid Wars," airing Saturday, October 25, at 7 p.m. Eastern time/4 p.m. Pacific on Al Jazeera America.)

After a surgery to fuse two of his bulging discs in 2011, Young’s painkiller dosage topped out at 240 mg of hydrocodone and 225 mg of oxycodone per day. He’s taken as many as 15 different medications at a single time, some for pain and others to counteract the painkillers’ side effects, like constipation or fatigue.