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(Almost) Everybody Hurts
By Karen Henry 
In preparing for this issue, I did a Google™ search on the term "chronic pain." The search yielded more than seven million results. The top results ranged from a Wikipedia entry and a plethora of medical and health—related websites to an article titled "Paula Abdul's Pain War." Narrowing the search to "amputee" and "chronic pain" was significantly less daunting—only 65,500 results-but still, where to begin? For those looking for a ray of hope in their search for relief, overwhelming doesn't even begin to describe the process that lies ahead.
And there are plenty of people out there looking for relief. According to an article in the May 2, 2008, issue of TIME magazine, new research shows that more than one quarter of Americans suffer daily pain. In looking at the amputee population alone, a study performed in 2005 by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that 95 percent of surveyed amputees reported experiencing one or more types of amputation-related pain in the previous four weeks. Whether you are a practitioner looking for resources for your patients or a patient looking for answers, where can you turn for help?
According to Harry Layton, CPO, LPO, "Pain is relative and unique to each individual's experience." So while we cannot provide definitive answers, this month's content will go a long way toward narrowing those 65,000-plus results down to a manageable handful. 
Table Of Contents - June 2008
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