Gaining on Pain Backaches. The types of pain are endless.
Pain can be sudden, perhaps due to an accident, or it can be chronic, as in arthritis.
But whatever its cause, pain diminishes quality of life. An estimated 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, and a recent Gallup survey reported that Americans with moderate or severe pain typically have lived with it for a year and a half. A very large percentage of patients who come to the hospital have as their chief complaint inadequate pain relief, either from a disease state or from surgery. But doctors at Texas Tech's International Pain Institute are finding innovative ways to eliminate pain from patients' lives. But at Texas Tech not only do we have people who practice pain management via an anesthesia residency and a fellowship in pain, but we also have a highly interventional pain practice here.