By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

Most Americans and Canadians who experience pain prefer over-the-counter drugs, exercise and bed rest over prescription pain medication, according to a large new survey. A surprising number of respondents said they do nothing or simply accept their pain.  

The online survey, led by a research team at Ontario’s Western University, asked over 4,100 adults in 2020 what types of treatment, medication or self-care methods they use to deal with or prevent pain. Respondents were given ten different pain management techniques to choose from.

The survey findings, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, show that most people use a combination of methods for pain relief, along with a healthy dose of stoicism. Over half said they use OTC pain relievers, often in combination with self-care techniques such as exercise, bed rest or physical therapy.

Over 41% selected “just live with pain” and 10% chose “do nothing” – which essentially amounts to pain acceptance.

Only one in four (24%) said they use prescription pain medication. Not surprisingly, respondents who said they had high pain levels were over four times as likely to use a prescription drug  

The responses from Americans and Canadians were similar, with one notable exception. Americans were twice as likely than Canadians to turn to alcohol to dull their pain, with just under 4% of Canadians using alcohol as a pain management strategy, compared to almost 8% in the U.S. Alcohol use jumped to 21% for those with the highest levels of pain in both countries.

"Our research shows that using alcohol to treat pain is somewhat common, unfortunately. Previous research has shown that is not only ineffective at treating pain, but it can actually be counterproductive," said lead author Anna Zajacova, PhD, a demographer and sociology professor at Western University. "Our study also indicates that there is likely a lot of unmet need for better treatment options for people to manage their pain."

Zajacova and her colleagues noted that high alcohol use in the U.S. may be a reflection of more limited access to healthcare than in Canada, which has a national health system.

"What we learned from this survey is that people aren't necessarily just visiting their doctor to manage their pain, and it's important to understand the non-medical and non-pharmacological strategies that people are using, for better or for worse," said Zajacova.

A major weakness of the study, which the authors acknowledge, is that they did not differentiate between acute, short-term pain and chronic pain. They also didn’t ask if the prescription pain medication used was an opioid or non-opioid.