Improving Pain Management for Veterans
A non-narcotic approach to a pain relief
An analysis of the National Health Interview Survey by the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed that veterans do, in fact, experience higher pain severity than non-veterans.
The analysis showed that veterans experience severe chronic pain at around a 40% higher rate than non-veterans (9.1% vs 6.4%).
According to the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA), the most common forms of chronic pain are joint pain, back pain, and musculoskeletal pain.
There are several explanations why veterans suffer from pain at an increased rate. One reason may simply be age. Chronic pain prevalence increases as we age, and the average age of a veteran in the US is 58 years old.
However, most experts cite factors like injuries that may have been sustained during military service, or other chronic health conditions that have arisen since their service.
Additionally, it’s unclear what role Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) plays in chronic pain, but one study showed that 43.1% of veteran TBI patients suffered from chronic pain. A study of Afghanistan veterans showed that 9-28% of those who served sustained some form of TBI.
Even more alarming, younger veterans were more than twice as likely to experience severe pain as non-veterans (7.8% vs 3.2%). This can have devastating long-term effects as the chances of becoming addicted to narcotics is greater the earlier in life a person starts using them.
According to the VA, more than 10% of veterans meet the criteria for being diagnosed with substance abuse disorder.
This underscores the importance of monitoring and safely managing chronic pain for this cohort.
A Non-Narcotic Solution
The opioid crisis among veterans has let the VA to employ strategies to reduce the risk of addiction, including their “Whole Health”, which integrates clinical care with integrative care. Veterans participating in this program had a 38% reduction in opioid use.
Technologies like biolelectronics are increasingly being employed as part of a non-narcotic treatment strategy for pain relief.
Bioelectronics work by sending currents that interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain.
The WellnessPro Plus® has revolutionized the field of bioelectronics with customized frequencies to treat multiple conditions.
The device is totally safe for the user and provides 24-hour access to pain relief.
Electromedical Technologies is the manufacturer of the WellnessPro Plus ®, an FDA CLEARED device offering nearly 1 million frequencies tailored for the relief of chronic, intractable pain as an adjunctive treatment of post-surgical or post-traumatic acute pain.
Find out more by visiting the product page.