An underappreciated medical condition in the U.S., chronic pain affects more Americans that you would think. Chronic pain (back pain especially) affects millions of Americans, regardless of gender, age, race, or creed. For example, 20% of American adults claim that physical discomfort causes them to lose sleep a few times a week, if not more. It is so prevalent, in fact, that back pain is the second most common reason Americans go to the doctor’s office. Conditions such as chronic neck pain, phantom limb pain, post-surgical pain, and sciatica can make everyday activities, from sitting down to using a pen to walking up a flight of stairs, stressful and challenging. At worst, these conditions can be debilitating.
Though all of these conditions are serious, back pain is arguably the most common chronic pain affliction diagnosed today. At the very least, back pain causes the most disabilities for Americans under 45 than any other medical condition. There are a variety of treatments available for back pain and chronic pain in general, including epidural steroid injections, spinal cord stimulation, nerve blocks, piriformis muscle injections, and even therapeutic options like acupuncture and massages. Chiropractors, in addition, specialize in back pain.
Chronic pain — back pain or otherwise — may not seem that pressing but once you consider that chronic and acute pain affect more people in the U.S. than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined, it becomes much more difficult to ignore the issue. Not to mention the fact that American businesses lose approximately $60 billion a year due to lost productivity. Of that $60 billion, nearly $45 billion is due to low productivity rather than missing work.
Chronic pain is simply too pervasive and too debilitating to ignore. If you or anyone you know suffer from constant pain, go to your doctor and look into pain management therapy centers across the U.S.