how to understand and treat them, without medication

Twelve million French people live with chronic pain. And many have no support to relieve them. Frightening statistics published in a special issue of the magazine 60 Million consumers. Sophie Coisne, deputy editor-in-chief, talks about this very comprehensive dossier entitled Pain, whatever works, and which reviews the advice to soothe this pain, the bad practices, and the good levers so that the care does not cost too much. It is really very useful.

franceinfo: Can you first define what chronic pain is?

Sophie Coisne: Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than three months, regardless of the type of pain. So, it is problematic, on the one hand, because of the feeling that we have for a very long time, and then because the person begins to be afraid to move, he takes sick leave, so he puts himself at a distance of his work, of his social relations. She may have trouble sleeping or even be depressed. So many things that we will have to treat globally.

The problem is that it’s a very subjective notion, in the end, we don’t all feel it the same way?

So pain tolerance is a gender thing. Studies show that men tolerate acute pain much more easily than women. For what ? Because they have testosterone, which is a hormone that decreases sensitivity to pain. And then, in the end, also the genes, because they will determine our susceptibility to developing certain painful diseases, for example, a rather migraine-like state. So, all these factors mean that your neighbor will not feel the same pain as you.

So when we talk about pain and the method to relieve it, we spontaneously think of analgesics, paracetamol, whatever the brand. 14 boxes of paracetamol are sold in France every second, it’s huge!

Yes, indeed, it is a great classic of the French pharmacy. We have the impression that it is a somewhat innocuous drug, but it is not. You have to be careful when using it. You know, it’s the leading cause of poisoning in France, overdoses of paracetamol. It can be very toxic for the liver as soon as it is taken beyond 3000 milligrams per day. To give you an example, adults in general take large pills of 1000 mg. And if you take more than three pills a day, you risk poisoning.

If not, what are the other methods to treat chronic pain?

A lot of sophrology and meditation are currently being developed in pain relief centres. For what ? Because these techniques allow you to live better with your pain, that is to say to start going out again, start moving again, etc. Sophrology, meditation, without making the pain disappear, will act on the anxiety, and will prevent the patient from focusing on the pain. And that is huge in the treatment of pain.

Another alternative method which is really interesting, then, when we have shorter painful episodes, is hypnosis. It is very effective, for example, before childbirth, during a dental operation, or even orthopedic type surgery, ENT, then in addition to anesthesia, and it will allow you to take fewer painkillers and be less anxious.

There is also CBD, it is this product that comes from cannabis. Is that an interesting avenue for treating chronic pain?

So the doctors do not reject it. They tell themselves that if a patient finds their pain is relieved with CBD, why not. But you should know that no scientific study has shown that CBD is effective against pain, at the doses at which it is found commercially. So it would be more like the placebo effect. But we are not going to refuse a placebo effect when we are in pain. So why not?

In this special issue, very rich, you also talk about some grandmother’s remedies, like cloves, we talked about that to treat dental pain. Does it really work?

Yes, you are told to put a clove on your decayed tooth, for example, while waiting for the appointment with the dentist, and well no, it does not work. On the other hand, what can be effective is clove essential oil. You find it in pharmacies, you dilute it and then you brush your tooth and your gum with it, and it can relieve.