Pain relief has been a major medical interest since Sumerian times 6000 years ago, when poppy juice was first used. Yet there is still a lot of pain about, it is a source of great disability, it detracts from the quality of life, and is often poorly treated. What is not likely is a magic bullet of a treatment that cures all pain without doing any harm. What we have is actually quite effective. The problem is that, while the best pain relief can be very good indeed, all too often the best is not attained.
Reasons are often simple, and have nothing to do with complicated science.
To get the best we need an overview of everything from the best bench science to how best to give the tablets. That is the goal of the the Oxford Pain Relief Trust. The following paragraphs illustrate some of the problems, and suggest some solutions. Half of the respondents reported having chronic pain. The two most common reasons for chronic pain were back pain, which varied little with age, and arthritis, which rose dramatically with age to afflict a quarter of people in their 60s or older.