Editor,
Any pain lasting longer than three months is considered chronic pain. Dealing with chronic pain is hard for many reasons. Often pain medications fail to cure or even relieve the symptoms. Sometimes the concern is that the pain will never go away.
It has become even harder since the announcement of the opioid crisis in 2016. Opioids have numerous side effects, including death, which make doctors hesitant to use them, but under-treatment of chronic pain also causes unnecessary and unacceptable suffering.
When pain becomes overwhelming, it’s hard to know where to start, but none of us can afford to ignore the problem. It affects all of us, family members, friends, co-workers, employers and healthcare providers. Each of us can become a chronic pain team member.
The first step is to learn about chronic pain. Many times we don’t know the exact cause of chronic pain, but there are tools available that help.
B.C. is a forerunner in pain education and the internet is a great place to learn about how to manage pain. If you don’t have access to the internet, the Quesnel Seniors Advocacy Group, the Friendship Centre, the G.R. Baker Mental Health team and staff at our public library, have all agreed to help.
Contact your healthcare provider. Nobody chooses to have chronic pain. It changes peoples’ lives and causes stress, anxiety and depression.
Break the cycle of uncontrolled chronic pain and help your loved ones and the community by learning about chronic pain.
Judy Dercksen
Quesnel, B.C.
