Pain relief is a basic human right. It is now a well-accepted fact that one does not need to endure pain since when untreated, it can lead to a range of physical and psychological ill effects. Present day medical management dictates that when a disease cannot be cured, one should at least attempt to reduce the suffering by making symptoms endurable for the patient. The specialty of chronic pain management specifically aims to achieve this objective. It significantly improves the quality of life by alleviating pain which is the most distressing symptom. Taking into account the significant prevalence of chronic pain all across the world [1 out of 5 individuals], WHO has suggested to consider chronic pain as a disease in place of a symptom.
In medical terms Any long-standing pain [of duration over three months] which cannot be directly addressed by medical or surgical modalities of treatment can be considered as a variety of chronic pain suitable for referral to pain clinic for evaluation.
