Chronic pain affects 1 in 3 Americans and exerts more than a $600-billion drain on the economy annually. It is the largest invisible epidemic we face. Having treated thousands of patients with chronic pain – often when they were at their most vulnerable – I want to improve the future for pain suffers.

As one small step in that direction, I have penned The Painful Truth: What Chronic Pain Is Really Like and Why It Matters to Each of Us. Although 100 million Americans live with chronic pain, and literally no one can escape pain’s effects, physicians, lawmakers, and even family and friends haven’t been as understanding about pain as they could be. I want to change societal attitudes toward those in pain, and I want to ensure they do not ignore chronic pain sufferers.

I’ve launched this blog to focus on the stories of people who are in pain, and to help families and friends empathize and understand the challenges they face on a daily basis. You can’t ignore these people once you get to know their unforgettable stories. And you can’t ignore the prejudice against pain that may linger inside us. My hope is to motivate people to counteract society’s stigma against pain with the truth about this health condition. I’ll look forward to sharing ideas for lessening the pain of the people all around us, now and in the future.