By September is a month that students around the nation are headed back to school, people kick back in their recliners to watch football, and they start the countdown to their favorite fall activities and holidays. But it is also considered “Pain Awareness Month,” making it a great time to help raise awareness about this condition that 25 million adults in the nation experience on a daily basis, according to the National Institutes of Health (1).
This is a great time to consider some of the facts surrounding chronic pain, which include:
- Approximately 11 percent of the adults in the country suffer from pain daily.
- Pain is the most common reason that people need to access the health care system, because chronic pain can be debilitating.
- The most common reason that people are disabled is due to chronic pain.
- There are more people who suffer from pain than from cancer and heart disease combined (2).
Chronic pain differs from acute pain in that it continues. Common areas of chronic pain include the back, head, and arthritis pain. Around 59 percent of those who have chronic pain report that it impacts them being able to enjoy life, and 86 percent of them are unable to get adequate sleep (3). This is an issue that many people suffer from in terms of the physical pain, as well as the ripple effect it has on their life and the lives of those around them. In addition to the millions who are taking prescription painkillers, many people are turning to complementary approaches to help manage their pain, including practices such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, and biofeedback.
If you are not someone who suffers from chronic pain yourself, there is a good chance that someone you know does. This month, make an effort to help raise awareness about chronic pain. Some of the things you can do include writing a letter to the editor, sharing information with your friends, posting about it online, and suggesting that the media cover the topic this month.
The more people are aware and understand the chronic pain problem in the country, then more research will be funded, and more solutions will be found. Also the more we understand, the more helpful we can be toward those we know with pain. September is a month to get back to school, football, and planning for fall, but it’s also a time to raise awareness about the chronic pain that the nation is suffering from.
Sources:
- NIH. 25 million U.S. Adults Struggle with Daily Pain. <https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_154169.html>
- NIH. Pain management. <http://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=57>
- American Academy of Pain Medicine. Facts and Figures on Pain. <http://www.painmed.org/patientcenter/facts_on_pain.aspx>
