As Pain Awareness Month comes to an end early this week, the U.S. Pain Foundation said the theme surrounding Pain Awareness Month,  September 2019 has been the most robust campaign on the books yet! #LetsTalkAboutPain lit up the web and experts affiliated with the program believe that talking about pain is the first step in creating awareness and leading the charge for change. Around 50-million Americans live with chronic pain. Each year the U.S. Pain Foundation observes the month of September as a time packed with events and activities, coast-to-coast, in an effort to raise awareness about how widespread chronic pain really is, click here for more.

Approximately 20 percent of U.S. adults live with chronic pain and 8 percent had high-impact chronic pain—meaning pain that limited at least one major life activity—in 2016. These are the findings of a recent study that analyzed National Health Interview Survey data to establish the burden of pain in the United States and aid in the development and implementation of population-wide pain interventions.

Chronic pain has been linked to restricted mobility, opioid dependency, anxiety, depression, and reduced quality of life, and it contributes to an estimated $560 billion annually in direct medical costs, lost productivity, and disability programs in the United States. The 2016 National Pain Strategy called for more precise prevalence estimates of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain to reliably establish the burden of chronic pain and aid in the development and implementation of population-wide pain interventions. This study helps fulfill that objective, providing data to inform pain-focused policymakers, clinicians, and researchers.

Here’s a look at: 35 Alarming Chronic Pain Statistics: America vs. Europe

Stop living with acute and/or chronic pain today. Let one of our providers at Jax Spine & Pain Centers intervene. Call 904.257.0060 or email newpatients@jaxspine.com and visit a center close to you.