A Huffington Post article discusses the opioid epidemic in the United States. This epidemic continues to increase dramatically with over 2 million Americans struggling with abuse of an opioid pain reliever. This Huffington Post article discusses the effects of chronic pain and how addiction can grow from this. Let’s take a closer look:
The Article
An estimated 100 million Americans experience chronic pain. This chronic pain can be caused by an injury, with the most common complaints of headaches, neck pain, facial pain, lower back pain, and others. Unfortunately, though, many times the pain can be enigmatic and complex or difficult to diagnose. When this happens, treatment might seem too out of reach for many patients, who then result to pain medications, such as opioids, to cope.
Women and Pain
Women are more likely to suffer from chronic pain and TMD than men. Temporomandibular joint disorders can have a wide effect on the jaw, head, and neck, and can be attributed to headaches. TMD can also be linked to pain in the ears and can be caused by:
- Bruxism
- Poor Body Structure
- Growth abnormalities
- Trauma
- Hormones
- Stress
- Problems in the brain and nervous system
This pain can also lead to further complications, such as sleep disturbances. With 42 million people reporting pain or physical discomfort disrupting their sleep throughout the week, it is important to provide our patients with proper treatment. Through proper treatment we can hope that we can eliminate or decrease opioid use and addiction among women.
Let’s keep an eye on this topic and see what more we can do as dentists and craniofacial pain specialists. But before I end, I want to know what your thoughts are on this topic? Should we be doing something more?
