Pain sufferers hooked on drugs
A Perth pain specialist has warned that some people seeking relief from chronic pain are ending up dependent on prescription opioids and over-the-counter analgesics.
Professor Eric Visser, who is heading an Australia-first project to improve the medical care of patients, says one in five people has chronic pain but the condition is still under-recognised.
He said many of them found themselves with drug and alcohol problems.
Many people who abused prescription and over-the-counter painkillers had started using the drugs to manage chronic pain. Others had turned to cannabis to seek relief.
Professor Visser is the inaugural Churack Chair of Chronic Pain Education and Research, based at Notre Dame University's school of medicine and partly funded by a $1 million donation from Rossmoyne couple Geoff and Moira Churack.
"Chronic pain is a big problem and many people will seek health care because of their pain, yet in most medical school curriculums it doesn't get much of a look-in," Professor Visser said.
"This chair is a step in the right direction, by fulfilling the education and research side of things, but it's still a very under-recognised health problem, even though it's up there with depression, heart disease and cancer."
He said managing chronic pain was complex and because people found it hard to get timely treatment, many resorted to self-medicating and some ended up with dependency issues.
"Marijuana is often used and over-the-counter medicines have become a big problem, too," he said. "We need to develop best practice for doctors on how to manage pain, but also provide good information to the community about realistic expectations, even though it mightn't be a cure."
Notre Dame vice-chancellor Celia Hammond said the university would be the first in Australia to teach chronic pain medicine as a core part of a student's degree. Research would be done at Murdoch University.
It would help improve the quality of life for 3.5 million Australians with conditions such as joint and back pain.
