Got Chronic Pain? S.N.A.P. It!

As a parent, one of the worst feelings in the world is to see my daughter in pain. While I fight a losing battle to protect Amelie from all the world’s perils (uneven sidewalks be damned), I have found boo boos to be my nemesis!

Fortunately, Amelie is my best teacher, and informs me – “Daniel! It’s okay. Boo Boos heal.”

Yes, my daughter calls me Daniel, and it makes me smile every time.

Amelie provides sage advice, but what happens in the case of chronic pain and why is it becoming such a significant problem in our society?

Chronic Pain… The Elephant in the Room

At a recent continuing education course, Therapeutic Neuroscience Education [1], I came across some sobering statistics:

• In the United States, 25.3 million adults suffer from daily chronic pain and, of those, 10.5 million individuals’ state that they have a lot of pain every day.
• It is estimated that 126.1 million adults in the United States experience some pain over a 3-month reporting period, which means that more adults in the United States experience pain than those who do not.
• Within these staggering prevalence numbers is the associated cost of persistent pain in the United States, which adds an economic burden of $560 to $635 billion dollars annually.
• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the US have reported that prescription opioids for pain cause three times the number of annual deaths in the US than cocaine and heroin addiction combined.

Chronic Pain, Oh S.N.A.P.

It is against this backdrop, that Fred Gilbert and I had the opportunity to participate in a Chronic Pain Townhall Discussion with Northern Virginia Family Practice, in September 2022. Here is a recording from this event. Take a look, and please share this with friends and family.

Conclusion

If you need any help navigating the world of chronic pain, come work with me!

References

1. Adriaan Louw – Therapeutic Neuroscience Education – 2022

2. Vlaeyen, J. W. S. and S. J. Linton (2000). “Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art.” Pain 85: 317-322.

3. Moseley, L. (2002). “Combined physiotherapy and education is efficacious for chronic low back pain.” Aust J Physiother 48(4):297-302

4. Sloan, T. J. and D. A. Walsh (2010). “Explanatory and diagnostic labels and perceived prognosis in chronic low back pain.” Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 35(21): E1120-1125.

5. Kjaer, P., C. Leboeuf-Yde, et al. (2005). “Magnetic resonance imaging and low back pain in adults: a diagnostic imaging study of 40-year-old men and women.” Spine 30(10): 1173- 1180

6. Milgrom, C., M. Schaffler, et al. (1995).“Rotator-cuff changes in asymptomatic adults. The effect of age, hand dominance and gender.” The Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume 77(2):296-298

7. Reilly, P., I. Macleod, et al. (2006). “Dead men and radiologists don’t lie: a review of cadaveric and radiological studies of rotator cuff tear prevalence.” Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 88(2): 116-121