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CBS profiles chronic pain care as one in four U.S. adults affected
CBS News, in a Sunday Morning report by Dr. Jon LaPook, said about one in four American adults lives with chronic pain and followed one patient's care at Washington University.
- New headline Was: “Seeking relief from chronic pain”
- Our desk filed its story
CBS News, in a Sunday Morning report by chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook, said about one in four American adults lives with chronic pain, defined as pain lasting more than three months, and that most are still in pain a year later1.
The feature followed veterinarian Dr. Troy Hudnall of Missouri, who CBS said herniated discs and a pinched nerve in his neck after a 2022 calf delivery, lost dexterity in his right hand, had multiple surgeries, and later had severe pain that led him to stop working1. Hudnall described the sensation as pulsing electricity and said his best days still rate six to eight on a 10-point scale, according to CBS1.
CBS said it followed his care at the Washington University School of Medicine Pain Center in St. Louis. Pain specialist Dr. Lara Crock said patients often try medicines, injections and procedures, and that it is not fully understood why one person with the same injury keeps hurting while another heals1. She said a pain signal can continue after tissue has recovered, including when scans of a limb look normal1.
The report listed other approaches under study, including devices that stimulate the vagus nerve for rheumatoid arthritis or migraine, and experimental non-opioid drugs meant to block sodium channels so pain signals do not reach the brain1. It did not name those drugs or cite trial results1.
Doctors Eric Leuthardt and Simon Haroutounian described a home wearable headset that uses biofeedback to increase brain waves linked to less pain1. Haroutounian said a pilot of about six patients whose pain had not responded to surgery or medicines found everyone improved to some extent1. Leuthardt said the device is not a drug, is not addictive, and has no pathologic side effects in the account CBS gave1. The headset is still in early research and is not ready for patients like Hudnall, CBS said1.
Since last May, Hudnall has used clinical hypnosis with pain psychologist Sarah Buday, who described teaching self-hypnosis rather than stage hypnosis1. CBS said he later underwent another surgery with that help. Crock said even partial relief can mean getting out of bed for family routines1.
The piece is a single-outlet broadcast feature, not a new peer-reviewed trial. The one-in-four figure is not sourced in the CBS text reviewed here, and the biofeedback claim rests on an uncontrolled six-person pilot. Not medical advice.1.
