Pain is the most common reason people go to the doctor. Everyone feels pain. When you stub your toe that is called acute pain. But when pain lingers it can become chronic. Chronic pain affects at least 116 million American adults, more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined. Pain also costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity.
Despite decades of research, doctors have few tools to measure pain objectively and treating pain remains a significant challenge. Students in medical school receive little training in pain management. Pain is a self-reported, often invisible problem. Furthermore, pain is difficult to treat because everyone experiences it differently and it can even exist without an apparent underlying cause. Besides the physical agony of pain, it takes an emotional and mental toll on patients and their families. For some, that leads to addiction and fraud.
In January, ideastream in collaboration with The Plain Dealer, NetWellness and WKYC Channel 3 Newswill launch Body in Pain, a multiple media exploration of the mysterious problem of pain. This special coverage will examine the anatomy of pain: what exactly is it and how do we feel it? Coverage will also explore the latest research and new technologies being developed to measure and treat pain plus an examination of non-traditional remedies.