Pain Awareness Month 2021
IT’S TIME TO MAKE PAIN COUNT
The U.S. Pain Foundation sought to raise awareness on the critical issues facing 50 million Americans living with chronic pain during Pain Awareness Month.
The initiative, #PainCounts, shows the devastating burden of chronic pain and the impact it has on real people. Each day, we shared a fact about chronic pain on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, along with one article a week that focused on different aspects of chronic pain awareness and care. We also hosted a live event that brought together experts in the field of pain care and patients to discuss why #PainCounts.
On this page, you’ll find all the articles we published, source information for each #PainCounts daily fact, and more.
Articles
Why Your Chronic Pain Counts
Our Pain Awareness Month event brought together experts in the field to discuss what needs to be done to improve chronic pain care for people across the country.
The Financial and Emotional Cost of Chronic Pain
Chronic pain affects the whole person, draining their resources financially and emotionally. The cost can be extreme.
EVENT: Why Our #PainCounts
Join us on Wednesday, September 29 at 7 pm ET to hear from experts in the health care field and people with chronic pain.
How Multidisciplinary Care Benefits Chronic Pain Patients
Multidisciplinary care is the best way for people with chronic pain to find relief—here’s what you need to know.
The Benefits of Heat and Cold Therapy for Chronic Pain
Heat and cold therapy are widely recognized for their use with acute injuries, but they are also an option for chronic pain.
How Disparities in Health Care Affects Chronic Pain
Everyone should receive the same high quality of health care. Learn how disparities in health care affect people with chronic pain.
Resources
Educational Handout
watch webinar
Daily Fact Sources
- Fact: At least 50 million Americans endure pain every day. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6736a2.htm
- Fact: 20 million Americans live with “high-impact pain” or pain that significantly impacts their daily life. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6736a2.htm
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, 84% of children with chronic pain indicated they experienced anxiety. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/pediatric-pain-report/
- Fact: Pain is one of the leading reasons American adults seek health care. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16471269/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1627578149196000&usg=AFQjCNH247lOJ9rUBuMGx5VxDtxz-n4t2A
- Fact: A report found that healthcare practitioners feel less sympathy, dislike patients more, and suspect deception when there is no clear medical explanation for the pain. https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7089631/file/7089643.pdf
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, 83% of respondents mentioned the use of heat and cold therapy to manage pain. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: As of 2018, 96% of medical schools in the US did not require students to take courses on pain medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6251835/
- Fact: The National Institutes of Health dedicate less than 2 percent of funding to pain research. https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/budget-in-brief/nih/index.html
- Fact: People with severe pain spent $7,726 more on annual health care expenditures than people with no pain. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22607834
- Fact: People with chronic pain have at least twice the risk of suicide than those without chronic pain. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-0830
- Fact: Latinx patients were 22% less likely and Black patients were 29% less likely to receive opioid analgesia than white patients. https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/13/2/150/1935962
- Fact: Half of white medical students believed at least one false statement like “Black people’s nerve-endings are less sensitive than white people’s nerve-endings” to be true. https://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4296
- Fact: In 2010 dollars, pain costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatments, disability payments, and lost productivity. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22553896/
- Fact: In a survey of 3,000 physicians nationwide, more than one-third said opioid restrictions “have hurt patients with pain.” https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/02/doctors-curtail-opioids-but-many-see-harm-pain-patients
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, 43% of respondents indicated heating pads and adhesives were effective at managing their pain. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: People making under $55k are less likely to be prescribed pain medication than those with higher incomes. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.67/d4q.b22.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AAMP_2021_Poster_FINAL.pdf
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, over 75% of respondents indicated cost prevented them from accessing one or more treatment options. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, almost 90% said they would like telehealth to continue beyond COVID-19. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: The percentage of adults with chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain increase as place of residence became more rural. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db390.htm
- Fact: One study found that more than half of people with chronic pain met the criteria for insomnia. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27208716/
- Fact: People with migraine disease experienced a nearly 70% increase in monthly migraine attacks during the pandemic. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5886319ba5790a66cf05d235/t/5f876bad0c2f6f3cd29ebc48/1602710448271/The+Headache+%26+Migraine+Policy+Forum_COVID+%26+Migraine+Survey+Report_Oct.+2020.pdf
- Fact: The most commonly used management strategies for chronic pain are physical therapy and massage. https://journals.lww.com/pain/Abstract/9000/Prevalence_of_chronic_pain_among_adults_in_the.98045.aspx
- Fact: 74% of people with high-impact chronic pain are currently unemployed. https://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(18)30358-4/fulltext
- Fact: Veterans are 40% more likely than civilians to experience pain. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27884688/
- Fact: People with chronic pain are four times more likely to have depression or anxiety than those who are pain-free. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000181/
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, 68% of respondents use heat at least once a week, and 45% use cold at least once a week to manage their pain. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, less than half of children with chronic pain report having a pain specialist caring for them. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/pediatric-pain-report/
- Fact: Between 2002–2018, chronic pain prevalence in the US increased by 10% among adults 25-84. https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/58/2/711/168526/Pain-Trends-Among-American-Adults-2002-2018 and https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/more-and-more-us-adults-have-chronic-pain-new-study-shows#Pain-prevalence-increasing
- Fact: In a U.S. Pain Survey, 74% of respondents indicated they have been living with their pain for at least 10 years, with 34% living with it for more than 20 years. https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/accesstocare/
- Fact: Adolescents with chronic pain report much higher symptoms of insomnia (54.2%) compared to those without (19.6%). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005005/
IN THE NEWS
- “Sunbeam® Joins the U.S. Pain Foundation’s #PainCounts Initiative to Support People with Chronic Pain During National Pain Awareness Month” — PR Newswire, September 1, 2021
- “The US Pain Foundation Sets September Initiative for Awareness with #PainCounts” — HCP Live, September 17, 2021
Our 2021 Pain Awareness Month campaign is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Sunbeam®, a leading manufacturer of electric appliances serving home and personal wellness.
Thank you for supporting the pain community!
