The Chronic Pain Epidemic in Britain

They say that around 7.8 million people in Britain live with constant pain while almost one in five suffer regular bouts of pain from conditions like arthritis, Fibromyalgia, back pain, and nerve problems after surgery. Pain costs the economy around £5 billion every year, yet the UK has the only one pain specialist for every 32,000 sufferers. This means that only 23 percent of chronic pain sufferers are referred to a specialist. It is also estimated that 50 per cent of people with back pain require treatment for depression. There is a treatment available for this type of pain called a 'Spinal Cord Stimulator', and even though this treatment could transform the lives of millions of Britain's living in pain, they say far too few people are being offered it. The reason, could be the high £24,000 cost for the operation. This is not a new type of treatment, it has been around for 40 years, but technology has improved greatly in recent years and studies have shown that 48 per cent of patients with chronic pain achieve 50 per cent pain relief with the stimulator, while only nine per cent of patients achieve this target with other methods including medication, which can cost £7,000 per year. www.dailymail/health.com