The task of the doctor in treating chronic pain is made difficult because more than half of all chronic intractable pain sufferers appear to have no obvious organic or physical cause for their pain. Many doctors find it difficult to handle chronic pain patients because these patients have often reached the stage where they are desperate enough to try anything to end their distress. They are understandably angry and frustrated because of their long and confusing history of treatment by numerous doctors.
The traditional approach simply does not work. It assumes that pain is just a signal that something is wrong with the body.The newer concepts of pain acknowledge the role that the emotions, the environment and the patients’ past experiences play in the total experience of pain. ”
Most doctors who encounter patients with chronic pain are frustrated both by the patient and by the failure of traditionally prescribed treatments. Doctors often write these patients off as hopeless cases, beyond medical help. Sensing the doctor’s hostility, patients may respond in similar vein. Often expecting some miraculous cure, they do the merry-go-round of doctor after doctor in a futile effort to find relief.
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