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Chronic pain – no matter where it strikes – is a problem not many of us really understand.
It can sometimes be dismissed and not effectively managed by health care professionals.
Pain is widespread, but underdiagnosed and undertreated, according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute of Medicine. The independent, nonprofit organization that gives advice to decision makers and the public focused on pain as a public health issue.
Its committee on advancing pain research, care and education found that much of people’s pain is preventable and could be better managed.
"Their suffering is not something they should be blamed for or something they’ve made up," said Philip Pizzo, chair of the committee, about people who are in pain. "In the absence of knowledge, there’s an attribution of blame. Education needs to play a role in that."
The committee reported that pain management training is lacking and that more programs for specialist in advanced pain care are needed.
It also asked for better data on populations at risk, characteristics of acute and chronic pain, consequences of pain and other trends. Treatment doesn’t always have to be drugs – as surgery, behavioral interventions, psychological counseling, rehab and physical therapy are also options.
The IOM has no vision or plan to lower the prevalence of pain. They refuse to call for requiring docotrs to have education in pain care- its the same old top down medicocentric plan that has failed to help people in pain in the past
I know exactly how you feel. I've had serious pain problems with polycystic kidney disease and now after (thank God) my transplant it's problems with the anti rejection medicine. My doctor is a very good one, but I always feel he thinks I'm fishing for hydrocodone. I've stretched out a bottle for over 6 months!
@Mitzi I really hope you come back and read all these posts. I lived with severe chronic pain for years and noone could pinpoint the source of it. I tried everything. At 25 I considered seriously ending my life because the pain was so bad. Eventually, my chiropractor, of all people, recommended I see a Neurologist as he had seen some L4/L5/S1 damage on the xrays and I wasnt getting any relief. The damage that had been done to my back was so severe that I had to have the Fusion. It was THE BEST thing I ever did. I know that not every surgery is successful, but as someone else mentioned, the break in the constant pain cycle allowed me to become me again. I still have pain some days, and I have trouble with my right leg from all the nerve damage but I am a totally different person.
I had a similar thing 10 years ago, could barely bend my knee, couldn't walk and the pain was incredible. Turned out to be reactive arthritis, and they gave me suppositories for the pain. Man was that a relief. Cleared up in 2 weeks, and slight pain stayed for 2 years, but I took chondroitin/glucosamine and it improved that immensely. You should find a doctor that listens.
wow, I'm really sad to read this story and all of your comments. I wonder if there was anything that happened (trauma, a wreck, accident?) that caused the pain or if it's just unexplainable for each person?
I have been in chronic pain since my early 20's. I've been to dozens of doctors, specialists, PT's, etc. with absolutely no relief. I was an athlete in high school and college with my share of sprains and strains, but it was nothing compared to the ongoing and ever increasing pain I feel each day. I'm 50 and find myself becoming more reclusive every day because it is a challenge to get up in the morning and go to work. Friends do not want to be with people who can not enjoy life. Going for a walk in the woods, swimming, bowling, golf, biking – don't I wish.
Back in 2009 I started having very achey and sore joints as well as sore muscles. I felt so ill I couldnt even get out of bed because of the pain. I became so sick I had to leave q
The worst chronic pain of all is psychiatric. No MRI, CT or blood test will ever show the disturbed biochemistry and ensuing misery and no opiate or NSAID will ever help. No one will ever understand this pain and people are afraid of any psychiatric diagnosis. Death is the only answer. All you people with chronic physical pain, think thrice before blowing off someone who has severe depression or schizophrenia. There's no pill for that and no relief.
I completely agree with this article
Find another doctor and get off the aleve. I have kidney damage from taking too much ibuprofen. Kidney damage is irreversable.
I would venture to guess that improper pain management might be the result of several factors. Our government's war on drugs has many thinking that pain relief medication is a person's weakness, and will lead to addiction. Many doctors are concerned about becoming the subject of a law enforcement investigation if it is even thought that they have perscribed too many pain relief scrips. As the article noted, people who are sufferring are often stigmatized as being weak, with addictive personalities. I am afraid that as the baby boomers age, severe paiin may become an epidemic.
Shut up and have some compassion. If you consider yourself a person of God, you are quite delusional
In 2001 I saw a general doctor and mentioned that I thought I had a pinched nerve. He told me I had spasms in my back and gave me some pills. They didn't help. 3 years later, I was having pain in my wrists and numb arms by the end of the work day. I saw a gen dr, an orthopedic dr, a neurologist and more gen drs – 7 doctors in total – because the first SIX of them sent me away without a diagnosis nor any pain treatment. A couple of them treated me like a was either looking for pills or just plain crazy. The 7th doc gave me an MRI. I had a herniated disk, a bulging disk and degenerative disk disease. Even after this diagnosis, I had to fight the dr for 2 weeks to get some pain relief. Which turned me into a zombie. And, I was scheduled to see a surgeon. The whole experience over those few months really turned me off of traditional medicine. I reluctantly turned to chiropractic. THANK GOODNESS I stuck it out and could stand up straight and had pain relief within a matter of months. I still experience some pain but haven't needed any pain medication over these years. I do still have treatments every 3 months or so but I'll take that over surgery, pills and ignorant doctors. Kay
If there is anything that might alleviate your pain, even somewhat, please listen to what this other poster has advised. I feel for you tremendously, and I am sure it is emotionally hurtful to you to not be able to enjoy your child the way you would if you had less physical pain. I am so sorry for what you have been experiencing. Please know that other people care.
I have had two fusions( very successful) and two laminectomys that were so so successful. Don't know where you live but my spine surgeons were the best in my state and it showed.
i have been suffering from chronic pain for 4 years now, since the birth of my daughter. after 3 years, i was finally diagnosed and i now have an answer for the pain. however, there is no cure and i continue to suffer. people don't even want to hear it anymore. they look at me like they want to avoid me for fear i'll talk about my pain. no one understands what it's like not being able to sleep in comfort. i am only 36 years old and have rare occasions of feeling well. when i see people complain about small things, it annoys me. people have no idea how horrible it is to suffer from daily pain. and i love the people who preach to me about popping pills. really? i could be popping A LOT more pills than i do. i take them only at night because if not, my good 4 hours of sleep would be closer to 2. people with chronic pain have to continue to function as normal – i have to be up at 5 a.m. for work, handle a 2 hour commute, be a full-time student while working, take care of my 4 year old and do all of the other things that life expects. i feel for ANYONE with chronic pain! most days, i do not even remember who i used to be. it's horrible.
Thank you for your insightful input. In the future, please leave the real conversation to the adults.
It is unfortunate that preventive care is not covered by insurance as pain is often a symptom of an underlying condition. Then when pain becomes chronic, doctors are reluctant to treat it with pain medication out of fear of being sued, fear that the patient will become addicted or fear that the medication is being misused (which for some it is) and who can blame them? Unfortunately, that leaves many with a diminished quality of life as chronic pain is very debilitating. I agree with Angela, few people really understand chronic pain unless they have lived with it. This article points to a need for our medical schools to provide more education for doctors and as patients we need to better communicate our needs.
Smoke pot, has healing powers and eases your pain. Don't knock it if you know nothing about it!
I had chronic pain due to 2 herniated disks for about 3 years. It was excruciating, but my regular doctor and her chosen neurologist never took me seriously–just said keep taking NSAIDS and doing PT, surely it wasn't that bad, and they were NOT going to write any RX for pain meds. I finally found a spinal/ortho specialist on my own at a local teaching hospital, got surgery within 3 months, and lo and behold, I was a new person! People told me I had color in my cheeks for the first time in over 2 years. He was very good about post-op pain management medication (and also pre-op in the weeks before surgery), and I made a great recovery within 6 weeks (immediate changes–and off any narcotics in 3 weeks) to full fusion in 6 months. Just the break in the pain cycle worked wonders, and of course, the root problem was solved as well. Moral of this is–if you are not getting adequate care, look for a 2nd or even 3rd opinion. Consider pain management specialists as well. Chronic pain is a terrible terrible thing, and I hope more folks start taking it seriously in the near future.
Next time I go to find a primary care doctor, I'm going to ask for their oldest one. Any of the younger ones any more have no idea what they're doing. They have the nurse do most of the work, come in and ask maybe 2 questions, then they either prescribe you something right there, or they go search on the internet for what to do. I might as well just stay home and WebMD it myself since that's all they're going to do. They aren't there to treat diseases, they're there to prescribe medication (which they get kickbacks from), as quickly as possible to get the next patient in and out. Or they refer you to a different kind of doctor, so your visit to them that you paid for was worthless, and now you have to pay even more to see someone else.
The point is to treat the problem so the pain will go away. The less pills you take the better off you are. You should be grateful.
hopefully you just busted a bursa sac in your knee. They can are painful but over time heal up with a wrap and lots of ice through out the day
@mitzi … try the laminectomy and fusion, in that order. My laminectomy would have worked if I didn't produce so much scar tissue. But I do … so I had fusion 5 years ago (L4-S1) and while I do have pain and you probably always will, too, the quality of my life is immensely better. I, like you, put it off until I had thoughts of ending it completely … I almost lost my right leg function due to nerve impingement. I waited slightly too long as my calf has partial paralysis. Don't keep putting it off. Fusion may have lots of complications but they are far better than no treatment.
What a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party.
I have suffered with spinal stenosis for over a decade and I am now recovering from my second back surgery. I have been on opiods for years prior to having surgery. I have also done every alternate therapy that my insurance would cover (shots, chiropractic, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, etc). Nothing "cures" my condition, and the medication is my only true solace. Even that is not enough some days. It has only been a couple of months and I am still recovering from the surgical pain and it is too soon to tell if it has been a complete success. No one understands chronic pain unless they have lived with it themselves, even our medical professionals do not comprehend the physical, mental and emotional toll this pain takes on an individual. Before my first surgery I contemplated taking my life because the pain was so severe. I do not know if this surgery will alleviate all of my pain and I pray every day that it will. More research is needed to understand patients who are in pain. Every time I hear about regulating prescription drugs I fear I will not be able to get pain relief. I have suffered for years before my insurance carrier would agree to pay for my surgery. I have had to try every form of alternative therapy and fail before I could have someone go in and fix my back. Even if the relief is only temporary it is a relief to not wake up in excrutiating pain every single day. I remain optimistic through all of this because I have a wonderful support system around me. Pain is an illness in itself just like any other illness that requires medication, understanding, and more choices for treatment.
You should absolutely find another doctor; one that will take the time to find the cause and treat it. There are bad doctors just like there are bad everything else. Good luck to you.
It would be lovely if doctors used their knowledge to relieve pain and suffering. Instead, if you go to a doctor with "pain" as a symptom, they don't want to help relieve that symptom while they treat the overall problem. Alternatively, they assume you're hunting for pain meds like a druggie (making it all up), and ignore the other symptoms. What's the point anymore?
I went to the doctor the other month with mass amounts of fluid buildup in my knee. It was so painful that I could barely walk. The doctor told me to stay off it and sent me home. They thought I was lying to get drugs. Pretty embarrassing for me and I may never go back to the doctor. I am still in pain to this day and I go through a bottle of Aleve every week. I am sure that is really not healthy for me but it beats being in pain.
I have been suffering for 7 years with spinal stenosis pain. i can no longer get any use out of steriod shots in my back. i have avoided laminectomy and fusion due to its low success and long recovery. i find that there is a treatment called x stop that would be perfect for me and i am happy. alas, it was short lived. my insurance, humana, will not pay for it. i wish i could just end my life, but alas, i have a nine year old child to raise. i just want to be free of this pain.