I used to think of pain as something that you got over.
I did a lot of sports for most of my life, and so I've sprained my ankle pretty badly.
I dislocated a shoulder, broke my hand.
Sometimes it hurt for weeks or for months.
But you know, I would take some Advil or do some physical therapy and eventually the pain would go away.
Until one day a couple of years ago, it didn't.
My name is Jennifer Kahn, and I am a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.
I write about the complex ways that science and new technologies affect people.
And in the past, those stories weren't personal.
This time was a little different.
I was shocked to learn that until recently,
it had been more than 20 years since a new pain drug was approved, at least one that was not an opioid.
And I learned this because I developed chronic pain myself.
Once I did, I realized there are so many people out there who are in the same position,
and for those people, pain is with them all the time.
And it makes it difficult to do almost anything to work, to exercise,
to see your friends, you know, even just to enjoy life and learning.
That sent me on a reporting journey that you'll hear about in this week's Sunday Read.
As many as one in three Americans have chronic pain or have dealt with it at some point in their lives,
but there are still only a handful of treatment options available.