What is Chronic Pain?
Everyone experiences occasional aches and pains. In fact, sudden pain is an important reaction of the nervous system that helps alert you to possible injury. When an injury occurs, pain signals travel from the injured area up your spinal cord and to your brain.
Chronic pain is a lot more severe and long-lasting than would normally be expected. The definition of chronic pain is any pain lasting longer than three months. There are multiple sources of chronic pain. The pain may feel like a mix of burning, stabbing or stinging. The pain may feel sharp or dull, causing aching sensations in the affected areas. It may be steady or intermittent, coming and going without any apparent reason. Chronic pain can occur in nearly any part of your body. The pain can feel different in the various affected areas.
Chronic pain can disrupt nearly all aspects of someone’s life – beyond physical pain, it can impede their ability to work and participate in social and other activities like they used to, impact their relationships and cause feelings of isolation, frustration and anxiety. The pain can affect concentration, thoughts and psychological wellbeing.
How do we get to the point where our pain prevents us from feeling normal? How can we get back to feeling functional?
If our mind shapes our response to pain, then we can alter our input to help reformat our reaction to discomfort. It is a steep slope to reach the ultimate goal of pain-free function. It is the healthcare provider’s responsibility to provide a walking stick on this journey rather than pummel the client with an avalanche of explanations that hinder their climb.
As the field of chronic pain expands, outdated treatment practices expire. However, many healthcare providers continue to offer explanations for chronic pain which do not serve their patients and clients.
Good health and wellbeing enables us to live happy.
