New research suggests that an online program could help people deal with their chronic pain and use fewer opioids.

Researchers at Washington State University found that people can manage chronic pain and reduce their reliance on opioids through an Internet-based program that teaches non-medical alternatives like increased physical activity, thinking more positively and dealing with emotions.

"With negative emotions, you often have that physical response of tension," researcher Marian Wilson said in a statement. "So we really want people with pain to learn they have control and mastery over some of those physical symptoms. Meditation and relaxation can help with that."

For the study, Wilson and her colleagues tracked 43 people with chronic non-cancer pain as they went through an eight-week course of online tools to manage psychological, social and health issues associated with chronic pain. Compared to a similar-sized control group, the participants reported that they adopted more practices to change negative thinking patterns and use relaxation techniques to help control pain.

She found that four out of five online program participants made progress toward goals to reduce or eliminate pain or other unspecified medications, as opposed to roughly half the control group.

"Unique to our study was the discovery that more appropriate use of opioid medicines could be an unintended consequence of participation," Wilson wrote.

The findings are detailed in the journal Pain Management Nursing.