Abstract

Chronic pain, unlike acute pain, refers to pain which interferes with the individual’s ability to function for longer than expected, and oftentimes refers to pain that lasts for a period of 3-6 months, or at times even longer. When assessing the social and medical costs of personal chronic pain, the physical management of chronic pain is often deemed necessary, while the intervention of psychological treatment is often neglected in Korea. However, the abstract and subjective concept of pain provides an important clue for the psychology of pain management intervention, and suggests the necessity of multidisciplinary pain treatment which includes biological, psychological, and social aspects. In post COVID-19 era, based on these multidisciplinary interventions, it is necessary to efficiently manage not only patients with existing chronic pain, but also patients who will be added with various methods, all while reducing the risk of infection. Methods which use digital infrastructure in particular provide an alternative to chronic pain management in Korea’s post COVID-19 era. Based on these changes, COVID-19 should not present a crisis for chronic pain patients, but rather a turning point for their active treatment and management.