Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. If pain lasts for more than three months, it is called chronic.
Experts estimate that over 800 million people, or about 10% of the global population, live with chronic pain. In the U.S. alone, more than 50 million adults had chronic pain in 2021, and around 7% had high-impact chronic pain—pain that seriously limits their daily life.
In the past, doctors often gave medicine to treat chronic pain. But the opioid crisis in the U.S. made many doctors rethink this. Now, new and safer treatments are being explored. Dr. Rachael Rzasa Lynn, a pain specialist from the University of Colorado, spoke about these changes and new options for pain relief.
Pain is complex. It starts when something injures body tissue or causes inflammation. Nerves send pain signals to the brain, where pain is felt. But these signals can be changed—made stronger or weaker—on the way to the brain. There are different types of pain. Nociceptive pain comes from injured tissue.
Neuropathic pain comes from damaged nerves themselves. Nociplastic pain happens when the original injury has healed, but the brain still keeps sending pain signals. Many people with chronic pain have a mix of all three types, making it harder to treat.
Measuring pain is also tricky. Doctors often ask patients to rate their pain on a scale from 1 to 10, but this only tells part of the story. Pain also affects sleep, emotions, movement, and daily activities. Since there is no visible sign of pain, doctors must rely on what patients say.
Some new treatments are offering hope. One is called pain reprocessing therapy. This is a type of therapy where patients learn to view their pain differently. By understanding what causes their pain and changing how they respond to it, their brains can begin to “unlearn” the pain signals. This can reduce or even stop the pain.
Another treatment is nerve ablation. In this procedure, doctors block the nerves causing pain by using heat or medicine. This stops the nerves from sending pain messages for months or years. It has been used for back pain but is now used for pain in other parts of the body too.
A third approach is neuromodulation. This uses tiny electrical devices to change how pain signals travel through the nerves. One example is spinal cord stimulation. Doctors place wires near the spine and connect them to a battery.
This sends small electric pulses to confuse the pain signals. Neuromodulation is now being used for many kinds of pain, from migraines to post-surgery pain.
The opioid crisis has pushed doctors to look for better, safer ways to treat pain. While some people still benefit from opioids, it has become harder for many to get them, even when they are needed. Because of this, researchers are working on new drugs that can relieve pain without the risk of addiction, including exploring the use of cannabinoids.
Looking to the future, researchers hope to better understand which treatments work best for which patients. Right now, it’s often trial and error. Two people with the same condition, like knee arthritis, can respond very differently to the same treatment.
One may feel better with physical therapy, while the other may need medication or surgery and still feel pain. Scientists want to find ways to match patients to the right treatment from the start.
In summary, the future of chronic pain treatment is becoming brighter. With new therapies and a better understanding of pain, there is more hope for people living with long-term pain to find relief and improve their quality of life.
If you care about arthritis, please read studies about extra virgin olive oil for arthritis, and pomegranate: A natural treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
For more information about arthritis, please see recent studies about how to live pain-free with arthritis, and results showing medical cannabis may help reduce arthritis pain, back pain.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
