In this study, about 1 in 3 Americans, Australians and the British said that they feel aches and pains “very often” or “often” (Canada is for some reason not mentioned). However the prevalence drops to 1 in 10 in Czech Republic, Croatia and South Africa. Why? Is the human body different in various countries? No but our cultures are certainly different.
There are many proposed theories behind this significant variability amongst nations such as obesity, inactivity, stress, and excess use of opioids, but the one I lean most towards is the difference in expectations. In some countries including Canada, the expectation is that all sorts of aches and pain must be treatable rather than just a part of life. Our preoccupation and expectation of perfect health is impacting our ability to cope with even a little bit of pain… as we search for instant cures or quick fixes to escape pain, pain continues to chase us!
The more instant gratifictaions we search, the more pain we experience.