'Every day it's pain': chronic sufferers plead for help

West Australian

20-07-2025

Janina Wenzel is one of the estimated four million Australians suffering from chronic pain who feel unheard and invisible in the healthcare system.
The Queensland woman has woken up every day for the last 30 years "feeling like she was hit by a semi-trailer", after suffering a wrist injury while working at a nightclub when she was 19.
The now 48-year-old was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which causes significant pain in her right side.
She wakes every day with nausea.
"Every day it's pain, and sometimes it's worse, but most days I feel like I've been run over by a bus," she told AAP.
Ms Wenzel has felt unheard by doctors for most of her life, many of whom have prescribed strong medications, with some having side-effects like burning her oesophagus.
"So many specialists have just said 'it's in your head' but it's not in my head, you live a day in my life," she said.
Her chronic pain has caused strain in her relationships, sparked severe depression and suicidal ideation.
She's also under financial stress.
"I think my family, my friends, would have an easier life, especially my parents, if they didn't have to care for me; their life would be so much easier," she said.
She is one of nearly 5000 people in a nationwide survey by Chronic Pain Australia, which reveals the toll that chronic pain is taking.
"To us, it's unfortunately not surprising ... but we're really concerned that things are getting much worse," Chronic Pain Australia chairperson Nicolette Ellis told AAP.
Nearly three-quarters of sufferers experience mental health issues as a result of their pain, while nearly two-thirds are unable to work and experience financial strain.
Some of those surveyed reported that waiting years for a diagnosis robbed them of their "dreams" and "life".
About 63 per cent of chronic pain sufferers report strain on their family relationships as a result of their conditions.
Some said their family thought they were just "lazy", while others were abandoned by relatives who did not believe they were sick.
More than half have reduced independence, and a quarter are no longer able to drive.
Multidisciplinary pain management and specialised care are important treatments to help improve the quality of life for sufferers, Ms Ellis said.
But only 18 per cent of those surveyed received a referral to a multidisciplinary pain management clinic, and 30 per cent of those never secured an appointment.
Ms Ellis said the report showed the path forward needs to provide better access to specialised care.
"It's the most burdensome condition ... it's more burdensome than mental health, and mental health has a really big spotlight and then (chronic pain is) completely missing from national policy frameworks," Ms Ellis said.
She called on the federal government to make treating chronic pain a national priority, change the coding system to recognise it as a health condition, and provide more localised funding to primary care
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