RETHINKING CHRONIC PAIN AND PHYSICAL THERAPY

Abstract

To bear chronic pain is to face daily challenges about simple piece of work that others take for granted. It normally means skeptical, stigmatized for not getting better, or concluded as not fighting with it. It can lead to poor mental health and self-esteem, truancy from school or work, disturbances in relationships, and socioeconomic disadvantages. The costs that society must pay for this is staggering, the leading cause of years lost due to disability is low back pain and it costs huge amount of money in the healthcare system that leads to less productivity and reduced quality of life. There is need to reset the thinking about chronic pain. There should be strong collaboration between different disciplines of healthcare system to help the patients and understand their pain, shift expectations, and set appropriate and realistic goals that can improve function and quality of life rather than relief of complete pain. Sharing of decision making can warrant the pain management, focusing on refinement of therapeutic options and ratio of risk-belief. . Large scale studies involving population should incorporate effective and feasible solution of rehabilitation. Policy makers of our country must give priority to pain, managing cost of inactivity. On a larger scale in community, there should be raised awareness about chronic pain and its physical therapy management removing all the misconceptions and stigma associated with it.