What Is Chronic Pain?

There are over 3 million cases of chronic pain in the United States each year. The definition of chronic pain is “persistent pain that lasts weeks to years.” So what exactly is the difference between types of pain?

Pain is defined as acute or chronic. Acute pain can be a sudden, mild pain that lasts only a moment or it can be severe pain that resolves over a few weeks or a few months. This type of pain can be brought on by a sprain, a broken bone, dental work, childbirth, surgery, etc. The key is that acute pain is pain that goes away.

Chronic pain is continuous pain that lasts longer than 6 months.. The presence of pain,, acute or chronic, is a signal to the body that something is wrong. Pain that is considered chronic does not resolve itself after an injury, surgery or traumatic event. The pain continues, even after the physical damage is considered healed. This pain is considered to be driven by the nervous system and can linger for months, even years, beyond the body trauma. Chronic pain can also occur when there has not been an injury or traumatic physical event. Some underlying conditions that can cause chronic pain include: cancer, arthritis, nerve pain, fibromyalgia, CRPS, migraines, etc.

Chronic pain can often cause physical effects beyond the pain itself. Conditions that, themselves, can be stressful on the body and mind of the individual. This type of pain can cause limited mobility, low energy, depression, anger, fear of reinjury and/or the increase in pain levels, etc. These ancillary symptoms can cause additional physical limitations beyond those already imposed by the chronic condition.