Pain and Aging: Myths and Stereotypes
I just read a very interesting article and I wanted to share it with you. I’ll paraphrase the key points here:
It was about the work that Dr. Dr. Stephen Thielke and his colleagues are doing to dispel myths and stereotypes about pain and aging. Among them are the notions that: pain is a natural part of getting older, that pain inevitably gets worse once it is present, that people who tough it out become accustomed to pain, and that pain medications are highly addictive. While it all sounds innocuous, this conventional wisdom limits the choice of treatment and the care that older adults receive and ultimately sets boundaries on their quality of life.
But their initial research shows that:
- Pain doesn’t occur more often in older adults
- That pain is more transitory than we think
- That toughing it out is not the best approach
- That the medications used to treat pain are not highly addictive in general.
The bottom line is that patients shouldn’t give up. They should work with their providers to identify what works best for them, and that can mean physical activity in addition to pills.
Complete article Aging Doesn’t Have to Be a Pain on The John A. Hartford Foundation blog.
PDF 
