A common scenario - A guy goes to his doctor and tells him he’s experiencing pain all over his body. His doctor asks him to be more specific, so with his index finger, the man points out the painful areas. His knee. (Ouch!) His back. (Doh!) His stomach. Even his earlobe hurts when he touches it. The doctor pauses, then deadpans, “Your finger’s broken.”
OK, sure, it’s a goofy joke, but when you live with chronic pain from an old injury or a degenerative condition like osteoarthritis, getting the right treatment—and lasting relief of the noncomic variety—can be difficult. All joking aside, many Americans are in this same boat.
According to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine, 116 million of us—more than all the people with heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined—suffer from chronic pain. While pain management is starting to get the national attention it deserves, you need relief now. We’ll help you make informed decisions about dealing with your chronic pain by understand…