Women with chronic pain are already dismissed – new guidelines denying them painkillers are a disaster

New guidance from health officials on the treatment of chronic pain could be devastating for women already struggling to get doctors to take their pain seriously, write Sarah Graham, 

The guidelines, published last week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), say that patients suffering from chronic pain that has no known underlying cause (known as chronic primary pain) should not be prescribed painkillers. Instead, it suggests, these patients should be offered exercise, antidepressants, talking therapies and acupuncture.

This has huge implications for the future treatment of anyone living with unexplained chronic pain – the majority of whom are women – and runs the risk of patients being viewed as hysterical until proven otherwise.

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Source: iNews, 7 April 2021