When most people think of severe illnesses, examples such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer are considered the most devastating, with high death tolls and great negative impacts on families and individual’s quality of life. The media reinforces the idea of these as conditions that cause the greatest degree of suffering through movies and television shows dealing with the effects of these diseases, as depicted in the compilation “Top 6 Movies about Cancer” (Twin TV, 2016) and including the multiple Oscar-winning “Terms of Endearment” (Brooks, 1983) and others; in addition, media fund raisers and advertising raise awareness of these illnesses. Yet there is one condition that is more prevalent than these three put together, but often overlooked considering the havoc it wreaks on nearly one-sixth of the world’s population: chronic pain (Axiom, 2016). Chronic pain sufferers number more than 1.5 billion individuals throughout the globe, and one-third of people in the United States, around 100 million, live in a state of chronic pain. Often their conditions do not seem as urgent or serious to others as do cancer or other potentially fatal illnesses. People with chronic pain may not show visible symptoms and their suffering is often silent, or attributed to other causes. Nevertheless, according to the Institute of Medicine, the cost of chronic pain just in the United States goes far beyond the individual suffering of its victims; in 2011, it estimated that medication and
Chronic pain is often defined as pain lasting more than 12 weeks. It may arise from initial injury, such as a back sprain, or there may be an ongoing issue such as illness. The assignment given consisted of finding a person who suffers from chronic pain to explore the ideas of illness classification, the experience of pain and explanatory models. The interview process was executed on September 17, 2016 via face time lasting approximately 45 minutes in length. She gave me her oral consent for this interview. I explained that this information would be used for a chronic pain paper. (American Chronic Pain Association) The subject is a 53 year old, Caucasian, upper middle class female currently in treatment for melanoma cancer. Currently, no disease
First of all the author provides a well know resource The World Health Organization. This Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations who has been around for many years. It’s a well reliable facility which provides estimates of patients who obtain pain medication for chronic pain. The author also states that the drug is a stimulant that relieves severe pain and produces a highly addictive powerful feeling of well – being. (Berrettini, 2016)
Pain is not inevitable and can be treated. To live a life hampered by pain when treatment is available, is to cheat one out of the full quality of life that is possible.
To most people, pain is a nuisance, but to others pain controls their life. The feeling discomforts us in ways that can sometimes seem almost imaginable. These feelings can lead to many different side effects if not dealt with or diagnosed. These effects can include depression, anxiety, and incredible amount of stress. The truth about pain is that it is vital to our existence. Without the nervous system responding to pain, we would have no idea if we were touching a hot stove, being stuck by a porcupine’s needles, or something else that could leave a lasting effect upon our bodies without us even knowing anything about it.
Persistent pain has psychological and social implications for daily life. It can severely limit an individual’s ability to work and be a productive member of society and decreases quality of life. In the face of increasing stigma and barriers to care, patients are struggling to procure the legal medications that alleviate their debilitating pain.
Recognizing that the prevention of chronic disease and promoting population health is the key to controlling health care expenditure, the inclusion of pain management is a positive aspect of the legislation. While chronic pain is not in the top leading chronic diseases, the cost to the health care system is higher than heart disease and diabetes combined.2 This paper will discuss Title IV - Prevention of Chronic Disease and Improving Public Health. Subsection D - Support for Prevention and Public Health Innovation of the PPACA, including the funding of the United States Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) for research in public health services and the examination of best prevention practices. One focus of this part of this provision is research and evaluation of pain management, the assessment, and treatment standards through an Institute of Medicine Conference on Pain Care.3
A. How many of you take Advil for a headache? How many of you use a remedy passed down from your grandparents or parents to alleviate a cold? How many people do you know suffer from migraines or experience back aches and take prescription pain killers to ease their pain? Do you know a cancer patient suffering through the effects of chemotherapy?
Dr. Huber has long battled with rheumatoid arthritis and the life of chronic pain that comes from it. In her book, she shares her unique perspective on pain both through research into how society conceptualizes pain and through her own experiences it. Some of the topics she covers are parenting while coping with chronic pain, having relationships, and how to manage a career while having chronic pain. In her research, she delves into the different culture’s concepts of pain. A large part of this research looked into pain scales and how patients communicate pain to their doctors. In her essays she expresses some of the flaws aspects of the healthcare system in hope it treats patients with chronic pain. In a fast-paced, find-it-fix-it medical culture it is difficult for chronic pain patients who cannot be fixed to get the appropriate care and treatment they
Murray J. McAllister created this website because he had concerns for how chronic pain was being understood and managed in the current healthcare system. There is no uniform or consistency in how chronic pain is being treated among healthcare providers. Many providers also correlate chronic pain to a previous orthopedic injury and not from a nervous system related condition. This poses many concerns
In the United States, over 50 million people suffer from chronic pain. The annual cost of chronic pain is around $100 billion. Moreover, 46% of the people suffering from chronic pain lack adequate pain relief (http://www.painfoundation.org/painful.htm).
Most medical treatment for chronic pain includes from pharmaceutical treatments for pain management, which can range from over-the-counter medicines like aspirin to prescription drugs. The problem with chronic pain management treatments that involve drugs is that they lose their effectiveness. Worse they actually can create more chronic or that can add to the chronic pain cycle.
Everyone suffers some pain in their lives from injuries of various severities and this is usually a person’s only reference point for the experience of pain: it is caused by an injury, it hurts for some time, and the pain fades as the injury heals. One day you wake up and the pain is gone. Now imagine instead of healing, the pain lingers and gets worse, not by the day, but by the hour. So, by the end of the day, you just want to crawl up in a ball and cry yourself to sleep. Chronic pains persistent, pervasive, and permanent nature is almost incomprehensible and I suffered through it for the better part of 8 years.
The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.
Chronic pain is defined as a pain that doesn’t go away for a long time. The pain can last for weeks, more than 3 months, years, and might make someone feel hopeless. Chronic pain does not relief with regular pain medication. It is important to address chronic pain because is physically and psychologically stressful. Its persistent discomfort can lead to irritation and frustration with the person’s self and with other people. Pain affects not only mental health but interfere also with someone’s sleep pattern.
Pain is a basic mechanism in life that helps the body identify that something is wrong or dangerous. Without pain, the body would be severely damaged without realizing it. Pain can become an inconvenience when it spirals out of control; chronic pain, for example, leaves many miserable and unable to enjoy life to its fullest extent even with traditional medical intervention. Around 80% of people report chronic pain in their lifetime (Holtzman & Beggs, 2013). People afflicted by chronic back pain turn to modern medicine for relief, but even these alternatives are not always 100% effective.