"Medical therapies are not providing sufficient relief, since the majority of chronic pain sufferers, especially those with severe pain, have also turned to non-medicinal therapies. The primary one is a hot/cold pack. Surprisingly, almost all of the major non-medicinal therapies currently used are perceived as providing more relief by their users than OTCs, the most widely used medicines; the one exception are herbs/dietary supplements/vitamins which are perceived as offering the least amount of relief than any medicines or other major non-medicinal therapies.
"The overall favorable perceptions of non-medicinal therapies are driven by those with moderate pain. Although those with very severe pain are more likely to use them, they have a significantly lower opinion of their efficacy versus medicinal therapies."
Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc., "Chronic Pain In America: Roadblocks To Relief," research conducted for the American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine and Janssen Pharmaceutica, Jan. 1999.
