When pain is not a matter of age

Chronic pain is one of the most invisibilized health conditions and, at the same time, one of those that has the greatest impact on people's quality of life. It often does not have a single or easily identifiable cause and ends up affecting not only physical well-being, but also emotional state, social relationships, and the ability to carry out daily activities. Despite this, even today there is a certain tendency to normalize it or address it partially.

To respond to this reality, Sanitas is committed to a comprehensive and personalized model through its Pain Unit. The goal is not just to reduce pain, but to help the patient regain their autonomy and quality of life. To do this, it combines different therapeutic tools, from pharmacological treatment to interventional techniques, rehabilitation, and therapeutic exercise, taking into account both physical symptoms and the emotional and functional impact.

"Chronic pain does not exclusively affect one part of the body. It is essential to make a global assessment to improve the patient's quality of life," explains Dr. Roger Moreno, a specialist doctor in Pain Treatment at Sanitas at the Hospital CIMA in Barcelona. He adds: "Pharmacological treatment remains an option and there is no single valid solution for all cases. Therefore, the assessment by the Unit expands the available options. Different strategies are combined in a personalized way."

There is no need to suffer in silence

Pain, as its specialists explain, is not fought only by alleviating it, but it must also be understood and treated from all angles. Those who suffer from chronic pain often do so in silence. "It's just a part of aging" is a phrase that many sufferers have heard time and time again, to the point of ending up normalizing the pain, just as those around them do. Dr. Ana Trescolí, from Sanitas, asserts that "persistent pain should not be considered an inevitable consequence of aging. When it is prolonged over time, it can end up conditioning aspects as important as rest, mobility, autonomy, mood, or social relationships. Furthermore, delaying its assessment can favor the pain becoming chronic and more complex to treat. Faced with persistent pain, it is important to identify its origin and assess the different options. For this, there is the Pain Unit."

Combined therapies

At Sanitas, pain is not understood as an isolated symptom, but as a condition that impacts multiple dimensions of a person's life. Therefore, the goal is to recover the quality of life, autonomy, and physical and emotional well-being of patients through joint, yet individualized care. When conservative treatment is not enough, Sanitas also has minimally invasive interventional techniques guided by ultrasound imaging and fluoroscopy, such as blocks, epidural injections, or radiofrequency.

"In some cases, it may not be possible to eliminate it completely, but we can find strategies that allow us to reduce it, recover mobility, rest better, and return to activities that had been abandoned. The most important thing is not to normalize a situation that limits daily life," adds Dr. Trescolí.

Without a combination of therapies adapted to each patient, lasting results over time or a real improvement in quality of life cannot be achieved. For this reason, the Sanitas Pain Unit concentrates diagnosis, treatment, and medical follow-up in the same space to simplify the care process, saving patients time and favoring more efficient and coordinated care.

Types of pain

Chronic pain can have multiple origins, from old injuries to degenerative diseases. Identifying the cause is the first step to achieving significant improvement.

As Dr. Carlos Fernando Gómez, a specialist in anesthesiology, resuscitation, and pain treatment, says, "spinal pains, such as cervicalgia, lower back pain, or pain associated with certain vertebral pathologies; joint and musculoskeletal pains; neuralgias and other pains of neuropathic origin, as well as persistent pain after some surgical interventions, have in common that the pain is maintained for a long time and can deeply affect the quality of life. The goal is to improve it."