Acute and chronic pain conditions can lead to a number of lifelong health disorders. Some of the disorders are conditions of pain whereas others are diseases which have pain as one of the symptoms. The number of people suffering chronic pain is increasing throughout the world. Currently, one in five people are suffering from chronic pain. In fact, pain in itself has become not just a symptom but an actual medical issue. This has resulted in the treatment of pain becoming a medical specialty. Physicians are being trained to treat pain. Pain management clinics are opening across the nation. Pain is a real problem.
Acute and Chronic Pain Explained in Detail
There are two types of pain, acute and chronic. In acute pain you become alerted to the possibility of injury through a normal sensation that is triggered in your nervous system. Touch a hot burner and the pain you feel tells you to pull your finger away from the heat. Sprain your ankle and the pain you feel tells you that you have been injured.
In chronic pain, the pain signals in the nervous system keep firing for weeks, months and even for years. Chronic pain does not go away. An injury or disease can sometimes trigger and lead into chronic pain but there are some people who have absolutely no history of injury or disease but still suffer chronic pain.
Conditions of Acute and Chronic Pain
Here is a list of some types of chronic pain:
- Arthritis
- Low back pain
- Cancer
- Headaches
- Neurogenic pain
- Psychogenic pain
According to the American Chronic Pain Association, chronic pain conditions include:
- Advanced Prostate Cancer
- AIDS-Related Pain
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Arachnoiditis
- Arthritis
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Back Pain
- Bursitis
- Cancer Pain
- Carpal Tunnel
- Central Pain Syndrome
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Disease
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
- Chronic Pancreatitis
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD)
- Crohn’s Disease
- Dercum’s Disease
- Dystonia
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
- Endometriosis
- Erythromelalgia
- Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS)
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches
- Herniated disc
- Hydrocephalus
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Irritable Bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Loin Pain-Haematuria Syndrome
- Lupus
- Lyme Disease
- Medullary Sponge Kidney (MSK)
- Meralgia Paresthetica
- Migraine
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Myofascial Pain
- Neck Pain
- Neuropathic Pain
- Occipital Neuralgia
- Osteoarthritis
- Paget’s Disease
- Pelvic Pain
- Peripheral Neuropathy
- Phantom Limb Pain
- Pinched Nerve
- Polymyalgia Rhuematica
- Post Mastectomy Pain Syndrome
- Post Stroke Pain
- Post Thorocotomy Pain Syndrome
- Postherpetic Neuralgia (Shingles)
- Post-Polio Syndrome
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Raynaud’s Disease
- Restless Leg Syndrome
- Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
- Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
- Sciatica
- Shingles (Herpes Zoster)
- Sickle Cell
- Spasmodic Torticollis
- Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction
- Spinal Cerebellum Ataxia (SCA Ataxia)
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Spinal Stenosis
- Syringomyelia
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS)
- TMJ
- Transverse Myelitis
- Trigeminal Neuralgia
- Vascular Pain
- Vulvodynia
- Whiplash
Unfortunately, you can have two or more co-existing chronic pain conditions.
Understanding the differenct between acute and chronic pain and the options you have for controlling it is the first step to effectively managing your pain so you can lead an active, normal lifestyle.
