During the week of December 2nd, Disability Researchers conducted a nationwide survey of chronic pain perceptions and disability. A total of 343 respondents participated in the online survey. Of the respondents, 106 disabled and 237 non-disabled people answered.
Not surprisingly, many more disabled people (77.4%) than non-disabled people (36.3%) said that they had chronic pain. A higher amount of disabled (45.3%) people said their pain was either extremely or very painful. Only 8.4% of the non-disabled said the same.
Pain Management
Only slightly higher amounts of disabled people used opiate-based painkillers (17.0% vs. 3.8%) or music therapy (13.2% vs. 3.8%). Meanwhile, more (26.6%) non-disabled people did not use any type of pain relief compared to their disabled counterparts (6.6%). These are the only significant differences.
Both disabled and non-disabled people used the top four treatments about equally. In order of popularity, they are:
- Ibuprofen
- Heat and cold
- Acetaminophen
- Exercise
Only 31% of the disabled found their pain relief methods to be extremely or very effective. However, 35.5% of the non-disabled did. The highest percentages of respondents found their pain relief methods to be only somewhat or not so effective (62.3% of the disabled and 51.3% of the non-disabled).
Pain and Disability
All in all, this survey suggests that pain relief methods could use improvement. The survey didn’t include curcumin, yoga, biofeedback, acupuncture, electrical muscle stimulation, and physical or occupational therapy.
Unfortunately, I was unable to include all the various methods of pain relief in my brief survey. I hope to have a more inclusive survey later.
But I did want to mention one new therapeutic method. It has implications for those who suffer severe acute or chronic pain and have yet to find suitable relief. Virtual reality therapy may help. Jane E. Brody, in an article in the New York Times’ “The New Medicine,” describes this therapy as “a hack that occupies the brain so fully that it has no room to process pain sensations at the same time.”
The major pitfall at this time is that once you turn off the virtual reality, the pain returns. Of course, this isn’t bad if the pain is quick. For example, if you are having a root canal procedure or debridement of burns, it may be a good answer. This is worth exploring in the future.