CHRONIC PAIN A DIRECT RESULT OF FAILURES IN OUR MEDICAL MODEL By Jill Gambaro

With the #NFL season fast approaching, the nation's attention is drawn to yet another scandal in sports. This time it's the league's handling of #chronicpain in players that's under attack. While I hate to see the NFL thrown under the bus, it provides a welcomed mirror. Players are now suing the league claiming they were given high octane painkillers without being explained the long-term risks. But the NFL was  following accepted standards of care and that's the real problem.

Chronic pain has finally been deemed a disease in and of itself by the medical establishment. I would add chronic pain is a direct result of failures within our #healthcaresystem to focus on cures instead of prescription maintenance.  Chronic pain isn’t regular pain that just lasts longer, it's a whole other animal. Being in too much pain for too long sets up a cascade effect that reaches nearly every part of your physiology. When a healthcare system makes more money not curing a condition, you wind up with a lot more chronic pain. That's certainly been the situation with carpal tunnel syndrome.

The article reports that an estimated 100 million Americans now suffer from chronic pain fueling a prescription drug addiction epidemic that now accounts for more deaths than illegal drugs. I have been a chronic pain patient for 14 years, but I got lucky. My doctor first treated me with TENS, an electronic neuro stimulator, instead of painkillers. TENS gave me enough relief I was able to search for other more permanent solutions.

I’ve found pain relief in acupuncture, yoga, meditation, exercise, movement retraining and behavioral modification, very little of which was covered by my insurance. Yes, it is more difficult and takes more time to manage pain this way. And the results aren’t always neatly measurable. But in the long run, I’m far better off and so are you.  It’s cheaper, outcomes are better and productivity returns more successfully. Many #patientadvocacy groups have banded together to address this issue at the policy level, as the best available medical solution, whether adequate or not, becomes writ into the larger diagnostic code structure. It's a long process to undo and a lawsuit like the one against the NFL, hastens that process.

Whether taking these drugs is solely the responsibility of the NFL, their doctors or some culpability lies with the players themselves is a question lawyers will get rich off debating. The shame in all this is that it could easily be prevented if more alternative modalities were accepted into the insurance system and more research was conducted without regard for profit. The numbers of Americans in chronic pain could also be reduced if patients addressed their aches more quickly, instead of hoping it will go away, then willing to do anything to make it so. The more we look to pills as the answer, the more we contribute to this situation as consumers. For my money, we’re all responsible.

keywords NFL, chronic pain, diagnostic codes, healthcare reform, prescription drugs