Pain in the elderly: 4 reasons it shouldn’t just be accepted.

It is true that pain is more common as we age. Not only do changes in our bodies such as less elasticity in our tissues or weakening of bones make pain more likely, but also we will get more chronic conditions that cause pain, such as arthritis, as we age.

We have an ageing population in Australia and roughly around the middle of this century there will be nearly ten million people in Australia aged over 65 and nearly 2 million people over 85.

According to the health advocacy organisation, Pain Australia, up to 80% of aged care residents live with chronic pain and 91% take prescribed pain killers. It is therefore in the interests of all Australians that we ask about pain and treat pain accordingly. What we can also be sure of: the majority of elderly patients in pain have not seen a pain specialist.

Not only is pain common, but it can also be harder to treat. As we age we are likely to have more medical problems, be more “sensitive” to medications and sometimes not be fit enough or want to go ahead with options such as surgeries. So, in conclusion we should just accept it and live with it and not bother seeing a pain specialist. Not true.

Here are 4 good reasons to manage pain better in the elderly and consider seeing a pain specialist.

1. There are options. Broadly speaking pain specialists look at medication options (see point 2) and interventional options such as injection techniques or electrical techniques to desensitise nerves. They look to combine these and other options with the essential work of other vital team members such as exercise physiology/physiotherapy. In many cases there are more options available than might have been considered.

2. Those options aren’t reliant on strong medications. Many patients are concerned that asking for help with pain will lead to being prescribed a strong pain killer which will have too many side effects or lead to being stuck on it. Pain specialists look to use strong pain killers very sparingly and in most cases try and avoid them altogether and look for other options. There are often other pain medications that haven’t been considered that don’t have the same risks or other techniques such as injection or radiofrequency (electrical nerve) treatments.

3. Treating pain improves quality of life. It is no surprise that living year on year with chronic pain can have a significant effect on our quality of life. Many people with chronic pain report anxiety, sadness and anger or report the impact of pain on personal relationships, socialising, sleep and engagement with enjoyed activities. If pain can be improved then there may well be better days and nights to be had.

4. Treating pain can help other medical conditions. It’s hard to follow your cardiologists advice to get exercise if back pain is limiting your activity or hard to get fit enough for a surgery if your knee pain is troubling you. It’s therefore worth considering if a pain specialist can help your chronic pain then will that lead to knock on effects in other areas of healthy living.

To sum it up. It may be a common problem but we have options, if we set realistic expectations, to improve pain and manage it better on a daily basis for many people no matter their age or medical history.