The doctors and nurses all told me it was impossible to get addicted to it and there was no way I was having withdrawals from it! So I started looking into it because I know if something is making me feel good and if I am addicted & abusing it! Well Tramadol was not a narcotic until about 4 months ago! The FDA just classified it as a narcotic and you will now find that it is addictive and you will experience withdrawals in any article you read. However, it is less addictive in my opinion than most of the other pain medications. It is synthetic morphiene and was once upon a time non narcotic, now its a pain in the a$$ to fill the scripts early because it is so well monitored! Anyhow to answer the question yes it will relieve pain to an extent, it depends on the level of your pain but I would highly recommend this over the others only because it is less addictive! Opiate based pain killers are extremely addictive, trust me they are good and fun but they only mask the pain for a period of time and they actually cause your body to have more pain as you become addicted and you will need more, you will take more, you will abuse them and in most cases it will become a battle that you can't win... Also what you will find with tramadol is that it is made by 2 manufacturers that I know of, one of which is completely different than the other! If you see one that is round and bigger with DAN on it be ready to become psychotic, irritated, irrational, angry, and a danger to society! The other 50mg are small they have an M on them and are sooooo much better! Walmart carries the better kind, and Target carries the horrible kind at least in (Florida) ! Unfortunately I had to find all of this out the hard way and I am not the only person who has had them same effects with the different manufacturers! Its weird I would never have thought it would make such a difference but I was literally a walking time bomb on the bad kind! And just in case anyone out there has OCD aka "obsessive compulsive disorder" it now being treated with Tramadol in clinical studies! I swore to my doctor over and over that I loved it so much because it was making everything so much better, I feel that little high, energy, happiness, etc. and yes I am OCD so clearly that was the reason I was feeling so much better! The FDA is in the process of approving Tramadol for the treatment of OCD and not just for pain because it has a quick relief 30 minutes and can be taken more than once a day unlike other medications that are for OCD! It has very little side effects compared to the other pain medications, or OCD medications that have not only side effects but also alter your mind to a point where the drugs think for you and it controls other behaviors that may or may not be necessary. I personally have been the lab rat and have tried all of the anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, etc for many years and I honestly can't stand the feeling of any of it. I don't find it to be the best idea for anyone to take these "crazy meds" that will alter your mind in more ways than you even know. At least with pain medications, stimulants, or sedatives you pretty much know what to expect and it is usually taken as needed and not something you take every single day that is everlasting in your system. Opioids, such as hydrocodone and tramadol, may rapidly ameliorate OCD symptoms.Tramadol is an atypical opioid that appears to provide the anti-OCD effects of an opiate and inhibit the re-uptake of serotonin (in addition to norepinephrine)!