Do U suffer from chronic pain?
That sounded like an aspirin commercial, but it’s actually a serious question as it affects 116 million adults in the U.S., which is 1 in 10.
Chronic pain leads to extra sick days, leave, lost wages, and poor performance. If you have pain that lasts for more than several months, it’s defined at chronic. Unfortunately, it’s usually self-treated and looked down upon as a legit ailment:
“The IOM report excluded costs associated with pain in children or members of the U.S. military, making the estimate conservative and yet higher than economic costs of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, according to its researchers. The federal Medicare program takes the brunt of the medical costs of pain, bearing a quarter of expenditures, the report said.”
We can see where that can get pretty expensive for everyone, with the biggest problems originating in the lower back, knee, neck, and migraines. And a secondary problem to the self-medication is addiction.
This new info comes on the heels of lobbyists trying to force physicians into extra training before just shelling out scripts for pain meds.
We just hope we can find a way to help these people in pain without it costing a fortune. First and foremost we want them to get better, but $630 billion dollars is a hefty sum. Hopefully regulations can be looked into, and the drug companies keep up on drug technology to curb the snorting/injection of certain medications by those self-medicating at home!
Let’s find a solution!
[Image via AP Images.]
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