(InvestigateTV) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines chronic pain as having pain on most days or every day in the past three months, and the 2019 study shows about 20% of US adults have it.
Chronic pain differs from another type of pain called acute pain. Acute pain happens when you get hurt. It doesn’t last long and goes away once your body heals.
For a woman in Arizona, she says her chronic pain feels like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.
Diana Hernandez suffers from osteoarthritis or OA, a degenerative joint disease in which the tissues in the joint break down over time.
It’s the most common type of arthritis, and it is more common in people over 50.
Arthritis gets so severe that a lot of times, there’s not a lot you can do.
The Mayo Clinic echoes Diana saying joint pain and stiffness can become severe enough to make daily tasks difficult.
Doctors add sleep disturbances can result from the pain and disability of OA over time, making patients feel frustrated and even depressed.
For some chronic pain patients, doctors say lidocaine infusions may help manage their symptoms and can reduce or even eliminate the need for opioids such as codeine, tramadol, or morphine.
Reporter Russell Kinsaul shows us how an infusion eased agonizing pain for one patient.
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