The global population continues to age and the US is no exception. By the middle of the twenty first, a large segment of the population will have gone gray, as they say and the medical field will need to advance to the degree where it can handle this new paradigm. This will require a lot of subtle changes you might not think of at first. Everyone from employees at emergency care services to the basic family physician will have to learn to cope with a whole new set of problems and ideas. With this in mind, it pays to think on what problems seniors have as these will be the type of problems that the medical field will be seeing more and more of. There’s the expected cancer treatment options problem and, of course, the immediate care and chemotherapy treatment issues as well but let’s focus on something a little more fundamental. Let’s focus first on chronic pain and chronic pain treatments.
- Pain management services
One of the most important of taking care of pain for seniors is having a readily accessible bevy of pain management services. If you are a senior who suffers from chronic pain then it’s in your best interest to have a system in place to deal with that pain from the very beginning. This might be anyone from typical doctor to a pain specialist that knows the ins and outs of your issues and can prescribe medication when it is needed. Whatever the case may be, it will not to do neglect such a system. The case for having access to this care is only going to grow as well. Especially in the next couple decades this is going to be a field of intense research and competitive market value. An older population means more financial and humanitarian incentive to try and fix chronic pain. Best to get on this band wagon now before it really takes off. If you haven’t yet, talk to your doctor about finding the right kind of pain management services for you. There are different routes you can take depending the type of pain you suffer from. Let’s take a look at this a little more in depth.
Arthritis and joint pain
This type of pain is no fun but it’s also one of the most common types of pain that seniors can suffer from. It is often found in the fingers and toes but, left unchecked, it can spread to larger limbs as well. When this happens, some or all of your movement can be impeded and this, of course, is no good at all. Thankfully, with proper care and medication, you can take care of this pain before it ever starts. Arthritis in the knees and elbows is especially acute and can cause debilitating side effects if left untreated. If you begin to suffer from either of these ailments, talk to your doctor immediately about treatment. The treatments for acute joint arthritis have come a long way in the last two decades and they really can be lifesavers for seniors who might be otherwise afraid to have treatment. This type of medicine is your friend, not your foe. Act quick and save yourself a lot of trouble!
Gastrointestinal pain
Stomach and intestinal pain is on a whole different spectrum than arthritis. While arthritis can impair movement, intestinal pain can land seniors in the hospital if it isn’t treated correctly. There are several reasons for this sort of pain as well and none of them are pleasant. It’s not all bad news however. Especially in the past ten years, pain management services for gastrointestinal pain has advanced to the point where it’s easy to live with such ailments and barely notice them. Doctors are now able to proscribe a wide variety of medications for all different sorts of GI pain that, even a few decades ago, were considered fatal or non treatable. It can be a bit scary and daunting to have these sorts of problems taken care of but that’s no reason to delay. Be safe, be smart and always stay healthy.
