More Americans live with chronic pain than the combined number of Americans suffering from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Pain can impact every aspect of a person’s life: from her daily living activities to her work to her relationships. Sometimes pain is the result of an illness or medical condition, but other times it is the result of a personal injury accident.
For example, people may experience chronic and significant pain from injuries that incur in or from:
- Car crashes.
- Motorcycle wrecks.
- Slip and fall accidents.
- Nursing home abuse or neglect incidents.
- Dog bite accidents.
- Negligent security incidents.
- Pharmaceutical medications or medical devices.
If you are in pain for any reason, then you need to know how to access appropriate treatments. Treatments are always changing. You may benefit from working with a pain specialist to help you get the treatment that you need to live your life as pain-free as possible.
How to Help People in Pain
With nearly one in three Americans living with some sort of chronic pain, it is important that we all work together to support them. While you may be unable to take away the pain, your actions can still significantly help someone who is in pain. For example:
- If you are an employer, then can make reasonable accommodations for employees who are in pain.
- If you are related to someone in pain, then you can help your relative with daily living activities, with finding the right doctors, and navigating the healthcare system.
- If you are friend with someone in pain, then you can be supportive by understanding when pain forces a friend to cancel plans, by changing plans if possible, and by providing emotional support.
Of course, it is also essential that doctors listen carefully to their patients and try innovative approaches to managing pain.
Pain Shouldn’t Be Suffered in Secret
Please help raise awareness about chronic pain, and thereby help people who live with painful conditions, by sharing this article with your friends and relatives. Together, we can support those who are hurt and help them to the extent possible.
