Chronic pain within nursing home residents was the topic of a recent study. The team behind this research found that there are four distinct types of pain that seniors face, and that each of these four types of pain warranted a different course of treatment in order to effectively help the person suffering from it.
The four categories of pain that were identified were: persistent pain that last over a period of time, pain that increases, holds, then decreases over time, pain that decreases, hold, then increases over time, and pain that is not always present.
They also identified factors that contributed to chronic pain. A hip fracture was associated with a big increase in the chronic pain that someone experienced. Obesity was another major factor.
The team also found that the increasing/decreasing category was associated with a higher risk of premature death.
Next steps for these findings are not quite clear. But this is valuable information and there’s a lot more to learn about pain and how to help those that are experiencing it.
No one wants to be in pain. It has a distinctly negative impact on the quality of life that someone is able to experience. There are ways to treat pain, but in the grand scheme of things, these are not always very helpful or reliable. Unfortunately, some of the most widely used pain treatment methods of the past also have negative side effects that accompany them. We are seeing the fall out of this quite clearly with the opioid pandemic. Although opioids do have some use when it comes to the treatment of pain, addiction and premature death are also associated with this type of medication. Finding a more effective and safer way to treat pain is essential if we are going to continue to help those around us live better lives.
This research comes from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University. Hopefully, this dive into chronic pain and its nuances allows researchers to better understand pain. With this better understanding, the hope is that better treatment emerges, too. The team published their findings in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
If you or a loved one are dealing with chronic pain, please get in touch with a doctor that understands your situation if you’re not already involved with one. A medical professional will be able to give you targeted assistance to custom meet your needs and more effectively help you and your family.
We hope to provide a similar service when it comes to senior care. In-home care is designed to be able to meet the needs of an individual with much more precision than other types of senior care are likely to be able to. In-home care comes to you, adapting to your lifestyle, rather than you moving to a facility and adapting to that new atmosphere.
If you’d like to learn more about in-home care and how chronic pain is dealt with, don’t hesitate to reach out. One of our professional caregivers would be happy to connect with you and your family and help answer questions and get you pointed in the right direction.
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