More Aussies than ever living with acute pain

Australia is in pain.

The Global Pain Index (GPI) has found Australia has the highest rate of acute pain in the world, with a whopping 68 per cent of people reporting issues.

Worryingly, of those surveyed, more than half say their pain impacts their quality of life and affects their social and family relationships.

Psychologist Melissa Day says many older Australians are choosing to suffer in silence rather than deal with the problem.

“It could be a number of things, but most often the data showed that people are just ignoring the pain hoping it goes away,” she told Starts at 60.

“Older people might be minimising it saying ‘Oh it’s just aches and pains that come with age’ and not really going to see a doctor about the pain.”

The GPI surveyed more than 19,000 people and looked at pain in both the body and head. It found that 96 per cent of participants are living with body pain and 92 per cent suffer from headaches.

John Bell, Pharmacist and Self Care Advisor to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, says the results should be a wake up call to doctors and patients as most pain can be managed and even prevented if treated correctly.

“Every Australian should know that pain, whether it be chronic or acute, is often preventable or treatable, and speaking to a doctor or pharmacist, rather than self-diagnosing, is key to determining the right pain management strategy,” he said.

“The better we understand pain, the better we can treat it.”

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Dr Day says using both western and alternative treatments is the most effective way to manage and even eliminate pain.

“Pain is stressful and we also know that stress makes pain worse,” she says.

“Particularly for headaches, stress is one of the number one trigger for headaches.

“So if we can intervene at that level and teach people things like mindfulness and meditation, or if that’s not their cup of tea, we can teach them other skills to change the way to change the way they’re responding to the pain so it doesn’t take over their life so much.”

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While prescription drugs are often the first port of call for a GP, Dr Day says using a combination of treatments is the most effective way to manage pain.

“Really the gold standard treatment approach is interdisciplinary,” she says.

“Medication has a wonderful place in pain management, but the problem is they get over-prescribed and misused and that’s when addiction and side effects become a problem.

“Whereas if you learn non-medication skills and you also learn how to take the medication appropriately then you’re really targeting the pain from all these different angles and that’s when you get the best results.”

Do you have acute pain? How do you handle it?