Thank you, Abbott, for sponsoring iPain’s Chronic Pain Awareness Month activities.

Join the International Pain Foundation for Chronic Pain Awareness Month. Below are 30 facts about chronic pain we will bring awareness to chronic pain conditions in September. Feel free to like, share, and retweet our graphics and facts about chronic pain on your social media to bring worldwide awareness about chronic pain. These are some of the trending hashtags you can use to help spread the word. #iPain #IGiveACare #ChronicAwareness

• Of chronic pain patients, 40% made an appointment with a specialist, such as an orthopedist.
• People of Color need to be heard & TX better! In 1 study, more than 80% waited until their pain severity was a 10 on a 10-point scale before calling their healthcare provider or oncology clinic for assistance w pain management.
• Headache (5.4%) was the most common pain condition prompting lost productive time: followed by back pain (3.2%), arthritis pain (2%) and other musculoskeletal pain (2%).
• Have Chronic Pain, you should have your blood pressure checked often (blood pressure goals should be 130/80 mm/Hg or lower).
• Gender is also a bias in pain assessment and treatment. Women seek help for pain more frequently than men, but are less likely to receive treatment. Physicians often assume either that women can handle more pain or that they are exaggerating the level of pain they experience.
• Women are more likely to be given sedatives for their pain while men are more likely to be given analgesics.
• Farber disease patients typically present with the cardinal symptoms of joint contractures or swelling, subcutaneous nodules, and/or a weak or hoarse voice.
• Elders are among the most undertreated for pain. Of the community-dwelling elder population, 25-50% can expect to suffer pain. (20) Among institutionalized elders, 71-83% report at least one pain problem.
• Despite the fact that most older people say that they believe their doctors give them enough information about pain, more than 1 in 3 said their doctors do not provide important information (such as negative interaction with other meds)
• Chronic pain sufferers have difficulty finding doctors who can treat their pain. Almost ¼ of respondents saw more than 3 doctors. The reasons they cite are: doctors are unwilling to treat pain aggressively; doctors lack knowledge about pain treatment; doctors do not take their pain seriously.
• Carry a medical identification card and a cell phone in case of emergency.
• By 2030, an estimated 67 million of Americans aged 18 years or older will have doctor-diagnosed arthritis.
• As many as 6% of all men and up to 18% of all women (about 12% of the population as a whole) have experienced a migraine headache.
• As a health problem, back pain is the 3rd most expensive disorder, after heart disease and cancer.
• An estimated 70% of those with cancer experience significant pain during their illness, yet fewer than half receive adequate treatment for their pain.
• An estimated 20% of American adults (42 million people) report that pain or physical discomfort disrupts their sleep a few nights a week or more.
• Among the major adjustments that chronic pain sufferers have made are such serious steps as taking disability leave from work (20%), changing jobs altogether (17%), getting help with activities of daily living (13%) and moving to a home that is easier to manage (13%).
• Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.
• Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program for a chronic pain condition.
• Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder in which various symptoms — such as headaches and dizziness — last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion. Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that usually happens after a blow to the head.
• Although the medical knowledge and technology is now available to relieve or greatly ease most pain, most pain goes untreated, under treated, or improperly treated.
• Almost two-thirds (59%) reported an impact on their overall enjoyment of life when living with chronic pain diseases/conditions.
• Almost six in 10 adults (57%) say they would be willing to pay one dollar more per week in taxes to increase federal funding for the scientific research into the causes and treatment of pain.
• A lack of research on pain across racial and ethnic differences, as well as cultural attitudes toward pain care cause under-treatment by some physicians for people of color.
• Adults living in families with income less than twice the poverty level reported pain more often than higher income adults.
• Adults age 45-64 years were the most likely to report pain lasting more than 24 hours (30%). Twenty-five percent (25%) of young adults age 20-44 reported pain, and adults age 65 and over were the least likely to report pain (21%).
• 86% of pain patients reported an inability to sleep well.
• 74% of pain patients said their energy level is impacted by their pain.
• 70% of pain patients said they have trouble concentrating.
• 4 in 5 Americans believed aches and pains were a part of getting older and 64 percent would only see a doctor when they could not stand the pain any longer. Sixty percent said that pain was something you just have to live with, and 55% said they were uncomfortable taking medications.