ABSTRACT
Chronic pain has become the Western world’s most expensive, disabling, and common disorder. It is estimated that 8 to 10% of the population of most Western countries suffer from chronic headaches. Arthritis afflicts over 50 million Americans, of whom 20 million require medical care. Low back pain generates nearly 20 million doctor visits per year and has disabled 7 million Americans (National Center for Health Statistics). Add facial and dental pain, neuralgia, cancer pain, chronic neck and shoulder pain, fibromyalgia, and other common pain syndromes, and it’s easy to understand why chronic pain is estimated to cost the nation’s economy $60 billion dollars per year. The cost in human suffering is incalculable.
