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Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

1843magazine.com

21–30 of 139 posts

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#21

Although there is value in trying to removing pain when doing so would be ethical, this thread mentions many situations where there is pain but no possibility yet of removing or reducing it. In these cases, a long-term general solution is to continue research on these situations. But the short-term solution per person is to learn the meaning and value of suffering. It is frowned upon in intellectual forums to discuss…

lol

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#22
Answering the headline: maybe, when we finish getting out of the 'steam age' of medicine.

Long term might grow closer to current science fiction. Very precise robotic surgery at an atomic level reconstructs whole bodies (my favorite case being the beginning of The Fifth Element), less extreme examples also exist and we might someday get to the point where "knives" are replaced with gentle 'unzipping' tools or even grey-goo that slowly scrubs over an area and just sets everything correct.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#23
post #12
post #8

Oof. To answer the headline, there already is a cure to chronic pain and it is called correct diagnosis. When i was 21 I had chronic pain for 8 months, doctors gave me anti-biotics, NSAIDS, steroids.....but pain was just there. After months of research I found a surgeon in California, who performed surgeries on "Sports Hernia", almost like inguinal hernia without any bumps. I flew out to have the surgery, pictures ta…

>there already is a cure to chronic pain and it is called correct diagnosis. There are many many conditions where even with a proper diagnosis there is little help. One of the easiest things to do with chronic pain patients is to minimize or handwave their pain as transient. There is no surgery for many of these people. No drugs that aren't heavily addictive. Little to no hope of anything but a lifetime of pain.

I've lived 12 years with chronic pain caused by a smashed vertibrae from a climbing accident.

No _legal_ drugs that aren't heavily addictive. And the predictable result is that you can't even get legal medicine that works any more, because no one dares to touch the addictive stuff.

And I sort of get it, I went through hell getting off OxyNorm/Contin after the accident. But it's really shitty to leave people hanging with no legal alternatives.

Edit: What kind of person down votes this? I would seriously consider seeking help.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#24
post #2

Should there be one? Pain is a symptom of something else, treat the root cause. Managing pain should only be a temporary measure.

What if the root cause is something that's simply broken? Like a smashed vertibrae in my case. The root cause was falling from a cliff without any protection besides a helmet.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#25
post #8

Oof. To answer the headline, there already is a cure to chronic pain and it is called correct diagnosis. When i was 21 I had chronic pain for 8 months, doctors gave me anti-biotics, NSAIDS, steroids.....but pain was just there. After months of research I found a surgeon in California, who performed surgeries on "Sports Hernia", almost like inguinal hernia without any bumps. I flew out to have the surgery, pictures ta…

>If I did not do my own research, I would literally still be living with this pain

If you want to hire someone to do a job, you need to know how to do the job yourself. If you don't know, then you're prime target for stunt performances or casual incompetence.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#26
post #23
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>there already is a cure to chronic pain and it is called correct diagnosis. There are many many conditions where even with a proper diagnosis there is little help. One of the easiest things to do with chronic pain patients is to minimize or handwave their pain as transient. There is no surgery for many of these people. No drugs that aren't heavily addictive. Little to no hope of anything but a lifetime of pain.

I've lived 12 years with chronic pain caused by a smashed vertibrae from a climbing accident. No _legal_ drugs that aren't heavily addictive. And the predictable result is that you can't even get legal medicine that works any more, because no one dares to touch the addictive stuff. And I sort of get it, I went through hell getting off OxyNorm/Contin after the accident. But it's really shitty to leave people hanging w…

Not sure why someone would down vote you.

How do you deal with pain? Have you tried medical pot?

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#27
post #19
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the article? It mentions fibromyalgia, which is a chronic pain condition with an unknown root cause. If you have any information the rest of the world doesn't have regarding the root cause of it, maybe you should have made that your comment instead of a cliche aphorism.

It's not quite as unknown as commonly believed. At least 40% of fibromyalgia have observable neuropathy on biopsies pointing to a process that is damaging nerves. The "what" is still unknown. But the parent is correct to say for fibromyalgia patients the optimal solution is a treatment (or cure) targeting that damaging process, rather than a pain killer. This is not to say better pain killers aren't valuable, they ob…

This is a bit like, and as helpful as, saying “Chemotherapy is pointless, just find a cure for the cancer”

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#28
post #27
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not quite as unknown as commonly believed. At least 40% of fibromyalgia have observable neuropathy on biopsies pointing to a process that is damaging nerves. The "what" is still unknown. But the parent is correct to say for fibromyalgia patients the optimal solution is a treatment (or cure) targeting that damaging process, rather than a pain killer. This is not to say better pain killers aren't valuable, they ob…

This is a bit like, and as helpful as, saying “Chemotherapy is pointless, just find a cure for the cancer”

No, that doesn't really make sense. Note in your example of cancer that pain killers are in fact given to cancer patients, they're one of the biggest users of our strongest pain killers. But nobody claims painkillers treat the cancer. So how could we claim pain killers treat other illnesses such as fibromyalgia?

Chemotherapy is a treatment that targets the actual cause of the pain (the cancer) and (hopefully) kills it, leading to remission and (hopefully) return to normal function of the person as a cancer free individual.

A pain killer is something that does not target the cause of pain, does not treat or reverse or cause remission for that cause, and does not cause the individual to be illness free.

It just makes the person feel less pain, so they can be more comfortable.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#29

Although there is value in trying to removing pain when doing so would be ethical, this thread mentions many situations where there is pain but no possibility yet of removing or reducing it. In these cases, a long-term general solution is to continue research on these situations. But the short-term solution per person is to learn the meaning and value of suffering. It is frowned upon in intellectual forums to discuss…

Jesus died on the cross in six hours.

Let's see jesus crush a few vertebrae and live disabled for 40 years without pain meds, and then talk about suffering.

Like I get it. Religion does help many, and it can take you away from pain, but suffering is real and don't shortchange people's misery who are dealing with it.

Re: Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?

#30

Tramadol works great for my chronic pain.

That's because opioids remain the single most effective pain treatment that humans have available. People have been using them for 4000+ years, they have a long track record of efficacy (and safety).

Managing pain with opioids is not much different than managing diabetes with insulin. I realize the media mania and moral panic doesn't convey that because it doesn't fit the hype narrative, but there is a huge difference between medical patients and drug abusers.

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