According to the New England journal of medicine, ” More than 30% of Americans have some form of acute or chronic pain.   Among older adults, the prevalence of chronic pain is more than 40%.”

Not only do those with chronic pain suffer, but, “According to a recent Institute of Medicine Report: Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research, pain is a significant public health problem that costs society at least $560-$635 billion annually, an amount equal to about $2,000.00 for everyone living in the U.S. This includes the total incremental cost of health care due to pain from ranging between $261 to $300 billion and $297-$336 billion due to lost productivity (based on days of work missed, hours of work lost, and lower wages).” 

Often, doctors prescribe chronic pain patients some form of opioid painkiller to get them through the pain. However, when patients want to stop taking pain medication, medical doctors often cannot provide many other choices for improving chronic pain.

Sometimes this can lead to unpleasant side effects, addiction, and even overdose.

The U.S. Department of health and human services says that we are in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic, and in 2014, more than 28,000 people died from opioid overdose, and at least half of those deaths involved a prescription opioid. Whereas the national institute on drug abuse estimates “2.1 million people in the United States are suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers.”

 The University of Arizona College of Medicine says, the most common types of chronic pain, in order of frequency are, back pain, headaches, pain in the joints, abdominal pain, and chest pain.

But there are other options available.

Improving chronic pain symptoms with chiropractic

Back pain

Back pain is one of the top reasons people visit the chiropractor, and for good reason. Studies have found that 86% of low back chiropractic patients were happier with the outcomes than those who did not see a chiropractor.

Headaches

While medication may cover up the symptoms of headaches, chronic headaches require the frequent use of medication which also comes with unpleasant side effects. Several studies have shown that chiropractic can reduce the severity and frequency of chronic and acute headaches.  In fact one study showed that chiropractic can give the same relief as commonly prescribed medication.

Joint pain

Joint pain can come in many different forms, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Regardless of what kind of joint pain you have, your chiropractor can help you regain motion and function in your joints. 

“William Lauretti, DC, an assistant professor at New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, N.Y., stresses that chiropractic patients with arthritis often improve without the need for pain medications …the study also showed that those who have chiropractic care are far less likely to use these drugs.”