Submitted by AskScienceModerator t3_zriiwo in askscience
The holiday season can be painful enough without suffering from physical agony, so we're here to answer questions you may have about pain and pain relief.
More than 20% of Americans endure chronic pain - pain that lingers for three months or more. While pharmaceuticals can be helpful, particularly for short-term pain, they often fail to help chronic pain - sometimes even making it worse. And many people who struggle with opioid addiction started down that path because to address physical discomfort.
Join us today at 3 PM ET (20 UT) for a discussion about pain and pain relief, organized by USA TODAY, which recently ran a 5-part series on the subject. We'll answer your questions about what pain is good for, why pain often sticks around and what you can do to cope with it. Ask us anything!
NOTE: WE WILL NOT BE PROVIDING MEDICAL ADVICE. Also, the doctors here are speaking about their own opinions, not on behalf of their institutions.
With us today are:
- Dr. Tina Doshi (/u/drtinadoshi), an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: https://anesthesiology.hopkinsmedicine.org/faculty/tina-doshi/
- Dr. John Mafi (/u/jmafi), an internist and geriatrician at UCLA: https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/john-mafi
- Karen Weintraub (/u/WeintraubKaren) - USA TODAY health reporter who led the series
Links:
- Series overview: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/12/11/what-chronic-pain-treatment-and-pain-management-beyond-opioids/10841327002/
- Day 1 (followed by the others): https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/health/2022/12/11/pain-america-expensive-complicated-problem-managing-pain/8210733001/