EVERYONE EXPERIENCES PAIN NOW AND THEN, whether it’s a stubbed toe, a nick while shaving, or something more serious such as a broken leg. Luckily, such instances usually are fleeting, and the pain subsides as the injury heals.

For an estimated 100 million Americans, however, pain is a con- stant companion — a mean-spirited bully that interferes with family time, work, and fun. And, in many cases, experts report, relief can be frustratingly elusive. “About one in three Americans

experience chronic pain,” confirms Penney Cowan, founder and ex- ecutive director of the American Chronic Pain Association. “It affects more people than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined and costs more than $600 billion a year [in medical costs].” Chronic pain is an especially com- mon complaint among veterans, adds Col. Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, USA (Ret), M.D., director at large for the American Academy of Pain Medi- cine and current program director for the Defense and Veterans Center

for Integrative Pain Management (DVCIPM). In fact, more than 50 per- cent of veterans coming to the VA on any given day will have a basic com- plaint of pain, Buckenmaier reports. Within the medical community,

chronic pain typically is defined as any pain that lasts longer than three to six months. Specific types include chronic headache pain, chronic mus- culoskeletal pain, chronic cancer pain, and chronic back pain, which is one of the most common complaints seen by pain specialists. “Chronic pain is sort of a catch- all term for a number of different conditions,” explains Buckenmaier, who specializes in acute pain issues. “Other types include fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and phantom limb syndrome, which is sometimes experienced by ampu- tees. It is a very complex and difficult