Key
Messages About Chronic Pain
1. Chronic
pain is a disease in and of itself.
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Pain not
only affects a person’s physical
well-being, but also his or her
emotional, psychological and
financial health.
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Chronic
pain not only affects the individual
pain sufferer, but also impacts the
lives of family and friends.
2. Chronic
pain represents a pervasive problem,
with more than 75 million Americans
suffering from chronic, debilitating
pain.
3. Chronic
pain is an important public health issue
that has a significant negative
impact on the U.S. economy.
-
Pain
causes more than 50 million lost
workdays at a cost of more than $3
billion in lost wages and more than
$100 billion in lost productivity.
-
Resources are drained from
employers, insurance companies,
health care institutions and the US
economy at large.
4. Pain
sufferers are among the most underserved
patients in the United States.
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Pain
accounts for 80 percent of all
physician visits, yet very few
health care providers have formal
training in pain medicine.
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Persistent pain can be an invisible
disease, and diagnostic tests often
do not provide clear reasons for a
person’s pain.
5. Governing
bodies and private institutions have
begun to take action to address
this growing public health concern.
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The
106th U.S. Congress has declared
this the “Decade of Pain Control and
Research.”
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“The
National Pain Care Policy Act of
2003” was submitted to Congress for
consideration.
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Hundreds
of companies are investing heavily
in research and development to
uncover new pain treatments,
techniques and modalities.
6. Chronic
pain has many plausible causes and can
affect any part of the body.
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Conditions most associated with pain
include arthritis, headaches, neck
and back problems, cancer,
neuropathies, chronic regional pain
syndrome (CRPS), irritable bowel
syndrome, pelvic pain disorder and
interstitial cystitis, shingles and
soft tissue pain.
DaVinci
Medical Group is a proud Ambassador of
the National Pain Foundation. |
