Il dolore cronico è estremamente comune negli Stati Uniti - e nuovi casi stanno "sviluppandosi a tassi allarmanti"

The population is also aging, Hassett noted, which could explain why chronic pain seems to be more prevalent.

For now, however, we can only speculate as to what might be causing what seems to be an increase in the prevalence of chronic pain—no research has answered that question yet, experts agreed.

Because there are still so many questions about chronic pain, it can be a frustrating or difficult diagnosis for people to receive.

However, Dr. Terman and Hassett agreed, it isn’t all bad.

The National Institutes of Health are working on an initiative called HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term), which has allocated $2 billion toward research in pain management and opioid use disorders.

Plus, more new research recorded electrical signals in the brain associated with chronic pain, giving researchers a better understanding of how chronic pain works and possibly even opening the door for more personalized and accurate therapies.

“Pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care in the United States,' Michaela Rikard, PhD, MMWR author and health scientist in the division of overdose prevention at the CDC, told Health in a statement. 'Addressing chronic pain and improving the lives of persons living with pain is a public health imperative.”

Even in Dr. Terman’s study, there were some positive findings that shouldn’t be overlooked.

“We were able to show that 10% of people who had chronic pain in the first year were actually pain-free in the second year,” he said. “What we don’t have is how they were treated. But at least here’s a little bit of hope there.”

There are treatments that can be really effective in helping people manage pain, Hassett added. Depending on a person’s level of pain, they can utilize physical therapy, medications, or other interventions such as injections, she explained. The CDC has resources for healthcare providers that's meant to make pain treatment safer and more effective, especially when it comes to using opioid therapy.

Exercise and trying to commit to a healthy lifestyle is also important, Hassett said. People may experience some pain relief from meditation, massage, yoga, spinal manipulation, or acupuncture.

“People tend to withdraw when they have chronic pain and no longer do the things that make life worth living,” Hassett said. “We have sleep disturbances and everything becomes a downward spiral. So we try to get people to get active again, to find the things that they can do, that they do enjoy doing.”

Dr. Terman concluded, “Just because you have chronic pain, doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t become pain-free.”