HealthLinksSC.com | 45 “An estimated 51 million people — more than 20% of U.S. adults — have chronic pain, 17 million — almost 7% of adults — have high-impact chronic pain, and only a mere 10% of those reporting chronic pain will be pain free within a year,” according to the April 2023 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Commonly defined as a pain that has persisted for six months or more, chronic pain often manifests in the form of back aches, headaches, joint pain, sinus pain or pain in specific body parts. The pain can shift from dull to debilitating, constant to intermittent, manageable to excruciating at unpredictable times, which directly impacts the quality of life for those who suffer from its debilitating effects. In the battle to minimize pain for his patients, Charleston’s Jonathan Gardner, M.D., MHA, founded the Pain Institute of Charleston. His arsenal includes a variety of injections, infusions, topical creams, nerve blocks and pain medications, but he is seeing considerable success with spinal cord stimulation and new peripheral nerve stimulators.
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