WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Across the United States, about 50 million adults experience chronic pain, according to an analysis of the National Health Interview Survey. On this Independence Day, the World Institute of Pain highlights the growing field of research and treatment options which are helping Americans live free from chronic pain. Unfortunately, chronic pain sufferers often experience their pain as an “invisible” illness not taken seriously enough by the medical community; thus, it is critical that physicians rethink how they understand and treat these conditions and lead patients toward independence from their pain.
Dr. Peter Staats, President of the World Institute of Pain, says, “Chronic pain has historically been viewed through a behavioral lens as though it were purely in patients’ heads. While patients understand that chronic pain is not imaginary, physicians can also do their part to free patients from the stigma associated with it by employing a holistic approach that considers three modulators of chronic pain: cognition, behavior and biology. We are at last gathering an incredible arsenal of tools and research to help patients conquer their chronic physical pain as well as the emotional pain that comes from being marginalized.”
There are many types of chronic pain, such as migraine and cluster headaches, chronic back pain, cancer pain, fibromyalgia, and most recently, COVID-19 long-haul symptoms. Chronic pain affects sufferers in many different ways, such as interfering with their daily lives by keeping them from work and other important activities. It can also take a toll on self-esteem, foster anger and depression, interfere with sleep, and raise stress levels – all of which can actually make the pain feel stronger.
Research in chronic pain has reached new heights of interest in the healthcare community, and, fortunately, new therapies are being vigorously tested on many fronts that offer independence from chronic pain.
Recent innovations include non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS), new wave forms to improve the efficacy of spinal cord stimulation, and medication strategies such as Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) therapy for migraines. Research has shown that the vagus nerve, one of the longest and most important nerves in the body, is linked to headaches and migraines. Activating the vagus nerve without surgery, via mild electrical stimulation, can acutely treat and prevent both conditions. An nVNS product currently available is FDA-cleared gammaCore by electroCore, Inc. Research on nVNS applications is ongoing and may yield treatments for other sources of chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia. Importantly, when headache pain and other types of chronic pain are reduced, so is the need for other treatments, such as opioids, once the most common therapy for chronic pain.
“Migraines are a great example of invisible chronic pain for which we now have incredible new treatments,” adds Dr. Staats. “Oftentimes physicians become comfortable with relying on the same treatment approach, which may no longer be most effective. Medical research into many of these conditions is moving at a thrilling rate, but these groundbreaking treatments won’t reach the hands of patients unless physicians know about them. In order to help our patients better overcome their chronic pain, physicians must consider newer strategies and keep up to date with the research and advanced treatments that did not exist just five years ago.”
One goal of these new treatments is to reduce dependence on opioids and other prescription drugs as a blanket approach for pain relief. Dr. Amol Soin, President of The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), has long studied and written about causes of and therapies for pain, with a focus on non-opioidal treatments. He writes: “The focus on diseases that cause severe pain with the underlying potential to impact opioid abuse at the prescription pad is directly aligned with my work over the past 18 years." He adds that he is fully committed to helping “millions of patients who suffer from pain causing diseases . . . and [making] an impact on society by reducing the need for opioid prescriptions.”
“As we think about our Independence Day in the U.S., we should take a minute to think also about the freedoms science is enabling in so many ways, including freedom from the emotional and physical toll of pain,” Dr. Staats concludes.
The World Institute of Pain (WIP) provides pain medicine educational resources, specialized hands-on training and workshops, related conferences and seminars, exchange of clinicians, and is an international community of experts in the field. The WIP promotes personal and practice growth with the support of a global group that is passionate about patient care.
