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Chronic pain is extremely common. What is it, and why is it so hard for many Americans to get relief?

Ali Hickerson, Data Work By Elena Cox on

Published in Slideshow World

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Chronic pain is extremely common. What is it, and why is it so hard for many Americans to get relief?

Muscle and joint aches. Shooting, stinging, or burning pain. Ongoing stiffness or squeezing sensations, pain so persistent and intense that it leads to constant fatigue, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

These and other symptoms of chronic pain are often associated with older adults, but chronic pain is a pervasive public health issue that is hard to measure. Nearly 1 in 4 adults said they experienced chronic pain, according to a 2023 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 1 in 10 reported that their daily life or work had been impacted by persistent, debilitating pain in the past three months. On top of the personal toll that chronic pain takes on Americans, the financial cost to the country of health care expenses and lost productivity can exceed hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

The U.S. Pain Foundation describes chronic pain as an "epidemic hiding in plain sight." However, quantifying how many people are affected is difficult since available data relies on patients self-reporting how much pain they experience, which is subjective. This subjectivity also makes it difficult to measure the impact of chronic pain on people's daily lives and limits the chance federal health policies will prioritize this condition.

Compare Inpatient Rehab examined data from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey to examine the chronic pain epidemic and what is behind it.

Chronic pain is the most common reason that people seek medical care. However, people living with high-impact chronic pain—pain that limits daily activities on all or most days for three months or more—experience more substantial mental health issues and chronic impairments. HICP often restricts activities like work, social, and self-care, generating a sense of helplessness or a constant fear of pain.

Medical professionals still have a lot to learn about the causes of chronic pain, but data does show that it affects more women than men and that the number of people who say they experience the condition is increasing.

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