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Seniors and Chronic Pain | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine
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Seniors and Chronic Pain
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Chronic pain is a growing problem among older Americans. Understanding
the causes of this pain, the special m edical needs of the elderly , and the role of pain selfm anagem ent can help seniors reduce or elim inate this condition.
As the U.S. ev olv es into a nation with an
paid to healthcare problems more common
Questions to Ask Your Healthcare
Provider
among the elderly . Research has shown that
Communication with y our caregiv er or care team is the
50 percent of older adults who liv e on their
best way to help y ou manage or end y our chronic pain.
older population, greater attention is being
own and 7 5-85 percent of the elderly in care facilities suffer from chronic pain. Y et, pain
What is causing my pain? What can I do about it?
among older adults is largely undertreated, with serious health consequences, such as
depression, anx iety , decreased mobility , social isolation, poor sleep, and related health
risks.
There are natural changes that occur with aging that affect pain—sleep patterns change,
muscles and joints gradually become more rigid, and energy decreases. Frequently ,
older people don’t report their pain, because they don’t know that it can be treated or
they believ e it will lead to ex pensiv e tests or more medications. And there can be
conditions, such as v ision or hearing loss or dementia that can limit communication
about pain.
What is the name of the pain medicine I will be
taking?
How long will it take for the medicine to work?
What side effects should I ex pect?
If I forget to take the pain medicine, what should I
do?
When should I take the pain medicine—on a regular
schedule? Before, with, or after meals? At bedtime?
To help ov ercome these barriers, treatment of chronic pain may inv olv e a team of
different pain management specialists—including a phy sician, nurse practitioner,
phy sician assistant, pharmacist, and others who specialize in pain management.
“It takes a team to take care of a patient,” say s Ann M. Berger, M.D., chief of the NIH
Clinical Center’s Pain and Palliativ e Care Serv ice. The serv ice brings together people from
Are there any dangers to taking this pain medicine I
should know about?
Will this pain medicine cause problems with any
other prescription drugs or ov er-the-counter
medicines I am taking?
a v ariety of disciplines to help patients manage their sy mptoms and reliev e their
phy sical, emotional, and spiritual suffering.
“We’re the quality -of-life team; that’s how I introduce ourselv es to our patients,” say s Dr. Berger. “This is the first truly integrativ e approach to pain
management.”
Since pain, especially chronic, long-term pain, is prev alent across so many different diseases and conditions, the NIH also created a Pain Consortium
to help study all aspects of pain prev ention and treatment. This interdisciplinary Consortium is composed of 1 8 different Institutes and Centers and
helps coordinate planning for key research opportunities in ev ery aspect of pain.
Treating pain in older adults requires special care because nutritional problems or multiple medical problems—diabetes, heart disease, arthritis—are
common. Helping seniors self-manage their pain is an important part of reducing or eliminating that pain.
To Find Out More
NIH MedlinePlus Magazine, Spring 2011: Special Section on Managing Chronic
Pain. To download a printable PDF of that issue, v isit
http://fnlm .org/Program _MLP/MLP_Prev ious_Issues-1.htm l
(ht t p://fnlm.org/Program_MLP/MLP_Previous_Issues-1.ht ml)
or
www.nlm .nih.gov /m edlineplus/m agazine/issues/pastissues.htm l
(ht t p://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/past issues.ht ml )
MedlinePlus: V isit www.m edlineplus.gov (ht t p://www.medlineplus.gov) and
enter “pain” in the Search box .
Clinical T rials: To get information on taking part in clinical research about chronic
pain, v isit www.clinicaltrials.gov (ht t p://clinicalt rials.gov/).
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall11/articles/fall11pg15.html
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Seniors and Chronic Pain | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine
NIH Clinical Center: For more about clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center, go to
http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov (ht t p://clinicalcent er.nih.gov) (#). Or call 1 -866999-1 1 1 2 (TTY 1 -866-41 1 -1 01 0).
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