U.S. Pain Foundation is pleased to share a sneak preview of its 2020 Pain Awareness Month campaign, which begins Sept. 1. This year’s theme is #MyPainPlan and will focus on the vital importance of an individualized, multidisciplinary, multimodal approach to pain care.

The 2020 campaign is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Sunbeam®, a manufacturer of electric appliances, including heat therapy products.

mypainplan.org 

Everyone experiences pain differently, so each individual’s regimen to treat and manage that pain should be personal, too. The launch of mypainplan.org will enable people with chronic pain to custom create a unique, personalized “pain plan.” Users will be able to learn about dozens of treatment options across seven multidisciplinary categories and choose whether or not to add them to their customized plan. The plan can then be printed to be referenced later or shared as a way to start a dialogue about better pain care with health care providers.

Survey on barriers to care

A multidisciplinary approach to care is widely considered best practice in pain management. Unfortunately, an incredible number of barriers prevent patients from accessing such care, including high costs, restrictive insurance policies, difficulty with transportation or mobility, and more. Today, U.S. Pain is launching a comprehensive survey about the specific barriers patients face. The data will be used to develop a white paper, with the goal of drawing much-needed attention to the real-life challenges of receiving comprehensive pain management. (The survey is now closed. Thank you to the 1,581 individuals who responded!)

Event series

To help educate patients on their treatment options, U.S. Pain will host three online events over Zoom and Facebook Live. Topics are still being finalized, but will likely include:

• a panel of patients discussing how they combine multimodal pain relief strategies;
• a pain specialist discussing strategies for relief at home during COVID-19, and how
• and when to use heat therapy vs. cold therapy.

Registration will be required for each event.

More details coming soon!

“The majority of the team at U.S. Pain live with various types of pain conditions. We’ve each tried dozens or even hundreds of therapies, and in many cases, have spent years or even decades searching for relief,” says Nicole Hemmenway, CEO of the organization. “We know first-hand how frustrating the trial-and-error process of finding the right treatment can be, and that it’s often necessary to use multiple therapies and strategies in combination. With that in mind, we want to educate and empower patients, providers, and the general public to better understand the range of treatment options available to them.”

Keep an eye on your inbox and on social media for more details in the coming weeks!