The impact of pain, particularly chronic pain, is far-reaching. It can affect everything from one's day-to-day activities and quality of life to the level of employee productivity at America's most powerful corporations. According to a recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately one in 10 adults suffers chronic pain lasting at least a year, and one in four reports suffering pain for at least an entire day during the previous month.

Adults 18 years and older were instructed to report whether they had experienced any of four types of pain during the three months prior to interview: low back pain, migraine/severe headache, neck pain, and facial ache in the jaw or joint in front of the ear. Respondents were asked to report only pain that lasted an entire day or more, excluding minor aches and pains. Low back pain was the most commonly reported of the four types of pain, the most common cause of job-related disability, and a leading contributor to missed work and reduced productivity. The second most frequently reported chronic pain type was severe headache and/or migraine.

Remember, you don't have to live with pain and you don't have to resign yourself to taking pain medications every day. Chiropractors are experts in managing pain - especially back pain, neck pain and headache pain, three of the most prevalent types of pain reported in the CDC study - without the use of drugs. For more information on the benefits of chiropractic care, visit www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/musculoskeletal/index.html.

Resource:

"Health, United States, 2006." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, November 2006.