Half of the population experience pain at least once a week, with more than 90 percent being accustomed to enduring it, a pharmacists’ association survey found.
Taipei Pharmacists’ Association spokesperson Wang Ming-yuan (王明媛) on Tuesday said the survey was conducted through online questionnaires and phone interviews in June and July.
Participants were divided into three age groups of 18 to 34, 35 to 54 and 55 to 70, with each group evenly divided between men and women, Wang said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jo, Taipei Times
Of the 1,099 respondents, 51.8 percent reported that they feel pain at least once a week, and more than 97.5 percent choose to bear pain when they feel it, the survey showed.
Wang said the survey results showed 35-to-54-year-olds are more sensitive to pain, whereas younger people are less likely to tell others about their pain.
The three most common types of reported pain were muscle aches, headaches and joint pain, Wang said.
Foreign studies have shown how chronic pain increasingly hurts more, making the central nervous system more sensitive, negatively affecting the respiratory system, and increasing the risk of cardiovascular complications, Wang said.
Delaying treatment is more likely to result in chronic pain, which might cause the pain to spread to other parts of the body, Wang added.
Surveys show young people often endure pain because of social pressure such as job progression, New Taipei City Pharmacists’ Association chairman Hsu Yu-shan (許有杉) said.
Middle-aged people with elderly parents and young children choose to endure pain, because they are worried about potential impacts to their financial situation.
Elderly people are more likely to view pain as part of aging, Hsu said.
Taipei Pharmacists’ Association chairman Yin Tai-chih (尹岱智) said there are many root causes for pain, and long working hours and high-pressure environments can aggravate these issues.
People should go to a hospital for major issues, clinics for minor illnesses, and pharmacies for minor symptoms, he said.
When mild symptoms appear, people should first ask a pharmacist for recommendations and take medication to relieve pain within an hour of onset, he said.
Then they should consult with a physician to find the root cause before the pain becomes a more challenging chronic issue, he said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS