We all experience pain at one time or another; when it appears, we know it's there, no one has to tell us what it is.
It's undoubtedly the most common reason for seeking medical or alternative-medicine help.
Data compiled by the CDC shows that in 2007, analgesics, as a group, was the number one prescribed category of medications in the US, approximately 13% of all prescriptions.
The number is most likely higher now.
Pain can be acute or chronic.
Acute pain starts suddenly, and most often has a readily identifiable injury caused by a motor vehicle accident, moving furniture, or playing sports.
It usually resolves with healing of the underlying cause.
Chronic pain is a little harder to define.
Some authorities define it as pain that persists, despite attempts to cure it, for six months.
Others call the pain chronic after 3 months.
It appears that the best definition for chronic pain is pain that persists for a period longer than is medically expected for it to resolve.
The economic cost of chronic pain is mind-boggling.
The American Academy of Pain Medicine reports that in 2011, at least 116 million people in the US have "common chronic pain.
" Low back pain, migraine (or other form of headache) and neck pain are the leading diagnoses.
A significant percentage of chronic pain patients (at least 20%) have had to take medical leave from their jobs and 16% had to modify their jobs.
Many employees feel that chronic pain interferes with their career advancement.
You can only imagine what this does to a person caught with this problem when unemployment is so high.
The cost for direct medical care for chronic pain is estimated to be $261-$300 billion a year.
The lost of productivity is $297-$336 billion.
This is almost $200 a year for each man woman and child in the US, and it's most likely an underestimate.
Treatment of chronic pain depends on the cause, severity, and the overall health of the person affected.
To be effective, treatment is frequently multidisciplinary.
Depending on the situation, it may involve medications, physical therapy, surgical intervention, biofeedback, hypnosis, management of stress or depression, exercise and reconditioning, acupuncture, chiropractic, weight management...
and the list goes on...
Medications used in the treatment of chronic pain usually belong to one of three categories i) Non-narcotic pain killers such as acetaminophen (e.
g.
Tylenol), aspirin, and the popular variety known as NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, such as ibuprofen/Motrin, naproxen/Aleve, and the COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex), ii) Narcotic pain killers such as codeine (in various combinations), Percocet or Vicodin, and iii) Ancillary medications (those used for enhancing the effect of other medications or forms of therapy) such as antidepressants, muscle relaxants, and anti-seizure preparations.
In addition, there is a host of preparations that can be applied topically, or can be injected locally to reduce chronic pain.
Some of the narcotic pain killers now in use to treat acute and chronic pain are highly addictive, and are at least partially responsible for the ever-increasing wave of narcotic addiction in the US, and in doing so are also contributing to violent crime.
So, it's very important to identify the cause of pain and treat it early in the game, before it becomes chronic.
When the pain does become chronic, it is most important to control it, so that the patient can return to the mainstream of life, and become functional despite the pain.
It's undoubtedly the most common reason for seeking medical or alternative-medicine help.
Data compiled by the CDC shows that in 2007, analgesics, as a group, was the number one prescribed category of medications in the US, approximately 13% of all prescriptions.
The number is most likely higher now.
Pain can be acute or chronic.
Acute pain starts suddenly, and most often has a readily identifiable injury caused by a motor vehicle accident, moving furniture, or playing sports.
It usually resolves with healing of the underlying cause.
Chronic pain is a little harder to define.
Some authorities define it as pain that persists, despite attempts to cure it, for six months.
Others call the pain chronic after 3 months.
It appears that the best definition for chronic pain is pain that persists for a period longer than is medically expected for it to resolve.
The economic cost of chronic pain is mind-boggling.
The American Academy of Pain Medicine reports that in 2011, at least 116 million people in the US have "common chronic pain.
" Low back pain, migraine (or other form of headache) and neck pain are the leading diagnoses.
A significant percentage of chronic pain patients (at least 20%) have had to take medical leave from their jobs and 16% had to modify their jobs.
Many employees feel that chronic pain interferes with their career advancement.
You can only imagine what this does to a person caught with this problem when unemployment is so high.
The cost for direct medical care for chronic pain is estimated to be $261-$300 billion a year.
The lost of productivity is $297-$336 billion.
This is almost $200 a year for each man woman and child in the US, and it's most likely an underestimate.
Treatment of chronic pain depends on the cause, severity, and the overall health of the person affected.
To be effective, treatment is frequently multidisciplinary.
Depending on the situation, it may involve medications, physical therapy, surgical intervention, biofeedback, hypnosis, management of stress or depression, exercise and reconditioning, acupuncture, chiropractic, weight management...
and the list goes on...
Medications used in the treatment of chronic pain usually belong to one of three categories i) Non-narcotic pain killers such as acetaminophen (e.
g.
Tylenol), aspirin, and the popular variety known as NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, such as ibuprofen/Motrin, naproxen/Aleve, and the COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex), ii) Narcotic pain killers such as codeine (in various combinations), Percocet or Vicodin, and iii) Ancillary medications (those used for enhancing the effect of other medications or forms of therapy) such as antidepressants, muscle relaxants, and anti-seizure preparations.
In addition, there is a host of preparations that can be applied topically, or can be injected locally to reduce chronic pain.
Some of the narcotic pain killers now in use to treat acute and chronic pain are highly addictive, and are at least partially responsible for the ever-increasing wave of narcotic addiction in the US, and in doing so are also contributing to violent crime.
So, it's very important to identify the cause of pain and treat it early in the game, before it becomes chronic.
When the pain does become chronic, it is most important to control it, so that the patient can return to the mainstream of life, and become functional despite the pain.