Chronic pain widespread

One in four unfortunately suffering from chronic pain
One in four Austrians suffers from chronic pain. This was announced by the President-elect of the European Pain Association, Dr. med. Hans Georg Kress from the MedUni Vienna on Wednesday at a press conference on the occasion of the 10th Austrian Schmerzwochen.

Social consequences of the pain
The 10th Austrian Schmerzwochen are part of a Europe-wide campaign with the slogan "The societal impact of pain". It is intended to draw attention to pain as one of the most important health problems and to provide policy makers and opinion leaders with an argumentation aid to provide the necessary resources in therapy. „More resources must be provided in the therapy, otherwise there are enormous costs due to sick leave, care and disability“, stressed Kress, adding that „The decision-makers (...) are not really aware of the health-social area. "In the opinion of the expert, social costs must also be taken into greater account in the discussion.Kress referred in this regard not only to the costs of treatment but also to the financial aspects Ineffective therapies, lack of specialized facilities, high sick leave, increasing need for care and impending incapacity to work.

Back pain most often
Two-thirds of chronic pain affects the musculoskeletal system, with back pain being by far the most common. For example, researchers in the UK in a 2000 study found that back pain per patient causes higher direct and indirect costs than coronary heart disease. Therefore, every person has to expect to suffer from back problems at least once over a longer period in the course of his life. In Germany, a comparable study has shown that back pain is the most common cause of advice in everyday German practice and, with costs amounting to 49 billion euros, 2.2 percent of the gross domestic product, represents a serious economic problem. Similar results are available from a Belgian study which concluded in 2006 that direct costs in Belgium are higher than those of back pain at 272 million euro

Chronic pain as a result of violence
Dr. Wilfried Ilias, President of the Austrian Pain Society, from the Hospital of the Brothers of Charity in Vienna pointed out on the occasion of the 10th Austrian Schmerzwochen, however, that on „the development of chronic pain (...) apparently violence experiences an influence“ to have . Thus, bad or painful childhood experiences in later life can lead to chronic pain. According to the experts, about 35 to 50 percent of all patients with chronic pain symptoms in childhood were abused, mistreated or emotionally neglected. Although the correlations have not yet been adequately studied, there is evidence that this physical and psychological violence of early childhood memories can be recalled into pain memory, often causing chronic pain. Since it is usually not easy to make the predominantly female victims of domestic violence speak, Dr. Iliad urgently to increased cooperation of pain therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists. (fp, 21.10.2010)

Also read:
Chronically ill by health fund
Cannabis reduces nerve pain
Chronic fatigue
Patients with itching severely underserved