PLEASE NOTE! IN ANTICIPATION OF OUR NEW WEBSITE TO BE UP AND RUNNING SOON, OUR EMAIL HAS BEEN CHANGED TO: yourchronicpain@comcast.net
THIS IS THE WEBSITE OF THE AMERICAN SPINE AND CHRONIC PAIN ASSOCIATION. THE ASCPA EXISTS TO ASSIST AND SUPPORT INDIVIDUALS WHOSE QUALITY OF LIFE IS COMPROMISED DUE TO THE BURDEN OF CHRONIC PAIN FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES, DEGENERATIVE CONDITIONS, NERVE DISORDERS, NERVE DAMAGE, AND FROM SPINAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING LITTLE-KNOWN AFFLICTIONS (SUCH AS COCCYDYNIA) THAT HAVE BEEN WIDELY MISUNDERSTOOD, UNDER-TREATED OR SIMPLY IGNORED WHILE THE SUFFERERS LOSE A QUALITY OF LIFE THAT IS TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. THE ASCPA IS RUN AND STAFFED ENTIRELY BY VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE DEVOTED TO THIS CAUSE.
WE ARE A 501(c)(3) ORGANIZATION WITH ALL CONTRIBUTIONS FULLY TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
www.painexplained.bbnow.org
MISSION OF THE AMERICAN SPINE AND CHRONIC PAIN ASSOCIATION:
A fundamental purpose of this organization is to increase awareness and provide information concerning the treatment of chronic nerve pain. This 501(c)(3) public charity has been established to inform, support and service sufferers, their families, and the healthcare practitioners who treat them. The benefits of involving a pain specialist during the diagnosis and treatment of certain disorders will be explored when standard tests do not show a cause for experiencing pain. To educate the public, the ASCPA uses current research on causes and treatments of types of spine afflictions and chronic pain. We are committed to sharing all information we possess with medical researchers, educators, practitioners, patients and their families to promote greater understanding of these medical problems and their effect on quality of life issues. Chronic pain sufferers who do not have health insurance or who cannot afford or find a physician's help will be assisted by this organization to the extent of its ability.
What Chronic Pain Cannot Do
It cannot conquer the Spirit
It cannot steal Eternal Life
It cannot intrude upon the Soul
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot decay Faith
It cannot splinter Hope
It cannot cripple Love
Author Unknown
This organization was formed with a focus on the specific areas of chronic pain from spinal degeneration, disorder or damage as well as the chronic nerve pain that often accompanies these conditions. ASCPA's founder searched for over fifteen years before he received a thorough and accurate diagnosis of HIS condition, a debilitating, little-known condition called coccydynia. Appropriate treatment had been available the first year his coccydynia symptoms appeared, but none of the many doctors he consulted discussed that treatment. Years after his symptoms began, it was by chance that he met a neurosurgeon/spine specialist who both recognized coccydynia and knew how it should be treated. Although science identified coccydynia in the 19th century, there seems to have been minimal research into causes and treatments for this condition. There currently is no cure. For several reasons, coccydynia strikes women five times more often than men. The information that has been collected and the networks that have been established by this charity through years of research are made available with the hope that other sufferers can be assisted in the search for relief.
For more information on the subject of coccydynia we recommend these websites:
http://www.coccyx.org or its Italian equal www.coccige.it
THE AMERICAN SPINE AND CHRONIC PAIN ASSOCIATION is a non-profit 501(c)(3) staffed entirely by volunteers who recognize there is a need for reliable information about painful conditions that include nerve inflammation, degenerative disk disease and other disorders that are chronic pain sources. We provide useful, accurate information about unlikely symptoms and a range of treatments. The ASCPA is a source of information for any and all who are affected by chronic pain problems - the patient, the family, medical personnel, therapists and others. This organization exists to address the scarcity of helpful, accurate and "patient-friendly" material about nerve pain and related chronic pain that can be misdiagnosed since they are difficult to detect. X-ray, MRI, CT scans and most other diagnostics cannot easily find these very real - and painful - conditions. When nerve pain or chronic pain cannot be linked to a specific injury, they can become difficult and costly to diagnosis and treat.
We believe that nothing will change for patients with nerve pain, spinal degeneration and other chronically painful conditions unless the general population knows that chronic pain can strike any one of us, at any point in life. We want to provide reliable information to sufferers and their families. There is a pressing need to find ways to help those in the U.S. population who do not have access to treatment with a tolerable degree of pain relief. Research into the treatment of these crippling conditions is severely underfunded - in large part because these conditions have been tragically misunderstood.
Did you know...
TODAY CHRONIC PAIN AFFECTS THE LIVES OF OVER 120,000,000 AMERICANS.
IF YOU HAVE UNTREATED, PERSISTENT PAIN, IT CAN BECOME AN ILLNESS IN ITS OWN RIGHT, UNRELATED TO THE ORIGINAL INJURY. THE ILLNESS IS CALLED "CHRONIC PAIN SYNDROME".
IT IS LIKELY YOU ALREADY KNOW SOMEONE WHOSE PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL WELL-BEING ARE DIMINISHED BY CHRONIC PAIN.
20 PERCENT OF CHILDREN EXPERIENCE CHRONIC PAIN, AND MILLIONS DO NOT RECEIVE EFFECTIVE PAIN RELIEF.
MANY PEOPLE TURN TO THEIR PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER FOR RELIEF FROM CHRONIC PAIN.
TOO FEW PRIMARY CARE PROVIDERS RECEIVED COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING IN THE ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF COMPLEX CHRONIC PAIN CONDITIONS.
PROMPT AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF PAIN IS CRITICAL. "TOUGHING IT OUT" CAN LEAD TO A LIFETIME OF IRREVERSIBLE PAIN AND DISABILITY.
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH ESTIMATES THE ECONOMIC TOLL OF CHRONIC PAIN IS OVER $100,000,000,000 PER YEAR. THE ECONOMIC BURDEN OF CHRONIC PAIN IS GREATER THAN THAT OF CANCER, HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES COMBINED, BUT FUNDING FOR TREATMENT AND RESEARCH IS LESS THAN ANY ONE OF THESE.
...you can help. You can do something about the chronic pain conditions that destroy the quality of life for millions of people, by spreading the word that chronic pain is real.
CHRONIC PAIN and NERVE DAMAGE PAIN IS NOT "ALL IN YOUR MIND"
No one suffering from chronic pain should ever have to accept this as a "diagnosis".
May the Sun
bring you new energy by day,
May the Moon
softly restore you by night,
May the Rain
wash away your worries,
May the Breeze
blow new strength into your being.
May you walk
gently through the world and know
its beauty all the days of your life.
-Apache blessing
sources:
•"A Call to Revolutionize Chronic Pain Care in America: An Opportunity in Health Care Reform", The Mayday Fund, http://www.maydayreport.org/report.php
•National Institutes of Health, ClinicalTrials.gov., http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/sho/NCT00973024
•"Pain Relief: a Human Right", Diederik Lohman, INCTR Newsletter, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/07/26/pain-relief-human-rights-watch
Additional Information:
The contents of The American Spine and Chronic Pain Association Ltd.'s web site, painexplained.bbnow.org (from now on to be referred to as The ASCPA), such as text, graphics, images and other material are for informational purposes. The ASCPA is not intended to be, nor should it be viewed by anyone as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this website. If you suspect you may have a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately. The ASCPA does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, materials or opinions mentioned by this Site.