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A Vancouver-based charity says chronic pain is one of the biggest drivers towards people needing to see a doctor, and it’s causing a huge strain on the health-care system.
Nov. 3 to Nov. 9 marks National Pain Awareness Week, a time to recognize the one in five people throughout the country that suffer from chronic pain.
The executive director of BC Pain, the largest pain-specific charity in the world, Maria Hudspith, says chronic pain can affect people young and old, and is caused by “any number of things.”
The list includes diabetes, multiple sclerosis, a serious workplace injury, a car accident, or even through nerve damage due to surgery.
People experiencing chronic pain are also four times more likely to experience depression or anxiety than other people, Hudspith explains. People who live with chronic pain are also twice as likely to have died by suicide. She says along with the significant impacts, chronic pain also takes its toll on the health-care system.
“Chronic pain is one of the biggest drivers of people going to see their doctors. So untreated pain is creating a lot of havoc in the health-care system and in the broader economy,” said Hudspith.
“We know chronic pain is associated with losses of up to $40 billion a year in direct and indirect costs. So there’s really lots of impacts on individuals, families, communities and broader society.”
Hudspith says although many people are suffering with chronic pain, it is an invisible condition that leads to many people “suffering in silence.”
“There’s a big stigma associated with it. People are often told ‘it’s all in your head’ or ‘you’re just trying to get opioids’ or ‘you’re just trying to get out of working.’ People are not choosing to have chronic pain, this is something that happens to people, and people really need support,” she said.
“Chronic pain is real.”
There is not a cure for chronic pain disease, explains Hudspith. Rather, people learn how to manage their pain. She says treating chronic pain requires a variety of different approaches, including psychological and social support.
“They may find that they can manage their chronic pain to a point that they would consider themselves recovered or cured. But for many people, this is really about managing a chronic disease and trying to live the best life they can and reduce the impacts of pain on their well being,” Hudspith explained.
BC Pain connects people to registered clinical counselors, social workers, physical therapists and peer support groups.
“They set goals together about things that will help people feel better living with chronic pain, like getting back to some gentle movement or even setting a goal, like ‘being able to clean my apartment and have a shower on the same day’, — small victories that people can move towards.”