Chronic Pain.Photo: Getty Images
New cases of chronic pain have skyrocketed in the U.S., with a stunning one in five suffering from the condition, according to new research from theNational Institute of Health.
That’s about 20% of Americans who battle pain every day — a staggering number of new diagnoses that beats out other chronic illnesses like diabetes,depression, and high blood pressure, according to theNIH survey.
“We’re talking about a major public health problem,” Dr. Gregory Terman, a pain medicine specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a co-author of the study, toldThe New York Times.
And while new cases of chronic pain are on the rise, two-thirds of those who are already struggling with the condition still report chronic pain a year later,the study found.
Part of the problem? The cause of chronic pain can be hard to pin down — and sometimes, doctors are unable to diagnose the cause at all.
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Chronic Pain.Getty Images
“It’s like a fire alarm going off, but there’s no fire,” Dr. Prasad Shirvalkar, Associate Professor of Anesthesia and Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, toldThe New York Times.
That was the case forIlana Glazer, who opened up last year in an essay forVogueabout her battle with pelvic floor pain, which began in early childhood.
“I started experiencing pelvic pain at a very young age, which is four,” theTony Award-winning producerwrote. “That’s when I remember first experiencing it, and it was chronic pain from ages four to 24.”
“I remember being 15 years old and my mom and I sitting there and this doctor telling me that my problem was too problematic for him, and just feeling laughed at and so angry.”
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TheMayo Clinicdescribes chronic pelvic floor pain for women as pain in the area between the hips and below the belly button that lasts for longer than six months.
The NIH study found that approximately 1 in 10 people with chronic pain recovered a year later — but chronic pain can intensify, developing into a condition known as High Impact Chronic Pain (HICP), which can limit the ability to work or perform daily activities.
And as thesurvey points out,“The links between the widespread burden of chronic pain and the country’s opioid epidemic underscore the urgency to understand and address the issue of pain.”
SingerSiahas spoken out about herstruggle with addiction— and how her neurological disease, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, commonly known as EDS, causes her “chronic pain.”
“Pain is demoralizing, and you’re not alone,” she wrote in aTwitter postabout her disease.
If you’re suffering from chronic pain, Shirvalkar tellsThe New York Timesyour first step should be to see your primary care physician — but if your symptoms don’t resolve in six weeks, to seek out a pain-management specialist.
source: people.com
