We all experience pain. From a child's scraped knee to a senior's achy joints, pain is a natural part of the human experience. Though pain is manageable through medications, physical therapy, and other treatment options, more than 76 million American adults still report regular pain. Compare that to other health conditions, like diabetes and heart disease, both of which affect approximately 23 million Americans, and you'll see that pain is a serious and prevalent health problem.
Fortunately, there are many ways to manage pain, whether that means treating the source of the pain or coping with the pain itself. Pain management is a growing field of medicine that draws in medical professionals from multiple disciplines, including family practitioners, internal medicine physicians, physiatrists, neurologists, anesthesiologists, surgeons such as orthopedists and neurosurgeons, physical therapists, and psychologists.
Many experts believe that more research needs to be done to fully understand the nature of pain, develop new treatment options, and raise public awareness about the prevalence of pain. However, because of advances in technology, doctors are now more able than ever to find the source of the pain, a crucial step in the pain relief process.
Types of Pain
What we feel as pain is actually a nerve ending called a pain receptor turning on and releasing chemicals that send a signal to the brain. Pain receptors are usually turned on because of tissue damage, injury, or other chemical changes in the body.
There are two main types of pain: acute and chronic.
Acute pain
Acute pain typically happens suddenly in response to injury or disease and subsides when the underlying cause of the pain resolves. Acute pain is biologically necessary, as it is our body's way of telling us something is wrong.
Chronic pain
Chronic pain can last months or even years and persists even after the body has healed from an injury. Chronic pain can be a symptom of arthritis, cancer, nerve damage, or other conditions, but sometimes the cause of chronic pain is unknown. Some people experience chronic pain even without any identifiable injury in the body, making it a difficult condition to diagnose and treat. The most common chronic pain conditions are low back pain, headache, neck pain, cancer pain, and arthritis pain.
Fortunately, both acute and chronic pain can be treated or managed through a combination of medical and non-medical treatment options including medications, physical therapy, surgery, acupuncture, electrical stimulation, counseling, and changes in lifestyle.
Why Treating Pain Is Important
There is a reason you will never hear a doctor utter the saying, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." That's because medical experts know that living with pain can have a huge impact on your overall health and well-being: chronic pain can affect your ability to sleep, work, and perform everyday tasks. Persistent pain can also be emotionally draining, sometimes leading to feelings of depression.
The widespread incidence of pain also has societal implications. The National Institutes of Health estimates that the U.S. loses $100 billion a year on account of chronic pain due to health care expenses, lost income, and reduced productivity.
Pain is undoubtedly a serious problem. But the first step in relieving pain is actually quite simple: realizing that pain is treatable and seeking help. See your doctor to identify the source of the pain and to develop an appropriate treatment plan. Acute pain today could lead to chronic pain in the future, so it is important to address pain and take steps to relieve it.
