Underserves patients with chronic pain

Pain and palliative day: Hardly care for patients with chronic pain

24.03.2011

Chronic pain is in the opinion of the German Society for Pain Therapy (DGS) an independent disease. According to DGS President Gerhard Müller-Schwefel, more than 13 million people (around 17 percent of the population) in Germany suffer from chronic pain. However, the treatment is often insufficient. Especially with children find a "real shortage" instead.

At the German Pain and Palliative Day 2011 in Frankfurt, the German Society for Pain Therapy presented yesterday the problem of chronic pain, which is relatively widespread in the population, and called for the introduction of a corresponding specialist training. Under a free hotline, all those affected were able to find out about chronic pain on Thursday.

Deficits in the treatment of chronic pain
Under the free hotline on pain disorders (0800 - 533 22 11) the experts med. Norbert Schürmann, dr. med. Carlo Pelzer and dr. med. Volker Strick on today's Thursday from 10 to 17 o'clock available. The specialists in the fields of anesthesiology, special pain therapy, palliative medicine and intensive care answered all questions about chronic pain and possible therapies. According to the German Society for Pain Therapy, however, many physicians are unable or insufficiently qualified to adequately treat patients with chronic pain due to a lack of knowledge and low fees. In order to meet the individual health problems of the pain patients, it would be necessary to adapt the teaching content in the universities and a special specialist training, stressed the President of the DGS, Gerhard Müller-sulfur.

Specialist training for the treatment of chronic pain
The introduction of a new specialist area could remedy the information deficit among physicians and at the same time offer patients more promising treatment, according to the hope of the DGS President. For those affected a quite desirable prospect, because chronic pain not only significantly affect the quality of life, but also burden the psyche of those affected massively. According to Müller-Schwefel, not only patients with serious diseases such as Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis are affected, but the chronic pain can have numerous, often unrecognized causes. The previous therapeutic approaches, however, are often rather one-sided and can not help those affected, the DGS president said. According to Müller-Schwefel, successful treatment approaches can only be achieved when the pain is no longer seen as a symptom, but as an independent disease. This circumstance would be taken into account by the establishment of special residency training, said the expert.

Hardly help for children with chronic pain
Children with chronic pain find little help in this country. Instead of trivializing pain in childhood, they should be treated properly, warns the pain expert Pothmann. „Children suffering from chronic pain are catastrophically under-supplied in Germany, "explained pain specialist Dr. Raymund Pothmann from the Hamburg Center for Integrative Pediatric Pain Therapy and Palliative Medicine on Thursday at the German Pain and Palliative Day in Frankfurt am Main. According to the experts, the chronic progression of children continues to increase, according to the medical experts: chronic children suffer from recurring migraine attacks, and every second child complains Elementary age complains of headaches or tension headaches.

Pain therapies in natural medicine
While many sufferers in chronic pain more and more often resort to painkillers and thus expose themselves to further health risks, according to the DGS president, it would be better to look for the causes of the pain. In addition, pain therapies can help the patient. In naturopathy, the pain therapies include, for example, homeopathic approaches, magnetic field therapies, neural therapies, biofeedback or acupuncture (as a traditional Chinese medicine approach, TCM). Also detoxification and deacidification therapies as well as special relaxation methods are used in the naturopathic treatment to relieve the symptoms of those affected. In addition, psychological therapies can also help with chronic pain because the cause of the pain may not always be a physical ailment. (sb, fp)

Also read:
Gene increases chronic pain
Chronic pain widespread
Pain medication as a cause of pain?

Picture: CFalk