Today, more than six out of ten adult Danes suffer from pain and aches at least once a week, according to a report by United Minds on behalf of Panodil, reports Kompas Kommunikation.

The most common types of pain and aches are back pain, neck pain, headaches and muscle pain. They cause sufferers to sleep poorly, and they have a negative impact on intimate relationships.

Pain stigmatised as a weakness
According to the report, the vast majority of sufferers regard the pain as a weakness.

“Pain seems to be taboo. People who suffer from chronic pain don’t talk about it much because those around them often find it difficult to understand the pain they experience,” noted Tobias Pörsti, the vice-president of Forening af Kroniske Smerteramte og Pårørende (FAKS).

According to the survey, 51 percent of respondents said that they do not talk about pain with their loved ones at all, and 35 percent said they only talk about their pain with their partner when necessary.

Pain relief by talking about it
However, according to Sophie Krog Agergaard, 27, a regular pain sufferer, it helps to talk about it.

“I didn’t actually know that there were other people who experienced the same problem as me. I have sat with headaches countless times, but didn’t want to tell anyone for fear of what they might think of me,” Agergaard, who often experiences pain in her shoulders, neck and head when sitting at a computer at work, told Kompas Kommunikation.

“However, it helped me a lot because I found out that I was far from alone in the pain I was suffering every day.”