10 causes of chronic pain in seniors

Living with chronic pain can be a nightmare for seniors, especially if they’re alone. Those who have little help may not get the right treatment they need either because they can’t get to the doctor or they can’t get their doctor to listen to them.

As the baby boomers are aging, this could become even more of an issue so the problem of pain in seniors needs to be addressed.

Here at the 10 common reasons why seniors have pain:

1. Falls/trauma – falling from lack of balance or weakness can end up into a nightmare of pain. Safety proofing the environment is a way to help prevent these accidents.
2. Arthritis – osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis affecting seniors; the next most common is rheumatoid arthritis.
3. Pain after surgery – while most people seem to bounce back after surgery once the worst of the pain is over, many times seniors don’t have that ability. This can result in long-lasting chronic pain.
4. Osteoporosis – thinning of the bones causes fractures. The fractures may not be obvious like hip or arm breaks; they can be in the spine, causing chronic and severe back and neck pain.
5. Shingles – the shingles virus attacks as a result of the chicken pox virus, which most older people had when they were younger. After the shingles disappears, it can leave yet another problem called postherpetic neuralgia – very severe nerve pain along where the shingles rash was.
6.  Face pain – whether due to ill-flitting dentures, teeth that need to be pulled, or other problems with the jaw, face pain can be severe and seem never-ending.
7. Back and neck pain – pain in the back and neck can result from diseases such as osteoarthritis or osteoporosis, but it can also be the result of bad mattresses, poor posture, previous back injuries and so on.
8. Abdominal pain – although there are many problems that can cause abdominal pain, one big reason among seniors is constipation. They may be taking medications that cause constipation, they may not be eating well, or getting enough exercises. This pain can become very severe.
9. Circulatory problems – if a senior has problems with the blood circulation, the resulting swelling – most often in the legs and feet – can result in a lot of pain.
10. Cancer – as people live longer, they are developing more cancers. Even if the cancer is not fatal, it can cause a considerable amount of chronic pain – or the pain can be caused by the treatments, as well.

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