What Is Chronic Pain?

 

The simple definition of chronic pain is pain that has been present for greater than 3 months.

 

However, it can be more complex than that, and the best way to understand chronic pain is to learn about its cousin: acute pain. Acute pain is pain that comes on suddenly and lasts for a few weeks. Typically, acute pain is caused by some traumatic event that injures your body's tissues.

 

If you smash your hand in the door jam, for instance, this causes acute pain. The pain is sudden and severe, and you can easily discern the cause of it. Your hand becomes red, swollen, and painful. Over the course of a few weeks, however, the pain goes away as your hand heals.

 

Now imagine that you smash your hand in the door again. Your hand becomes red, swollen, and painful. This time, imagine your hand pain continues long after the signs of injury have gone away. The tissues are clearly healed, but your hand still hurts. When you try to move your hand, the pain increases. This is chronic pain.

 

Chronic pain can be confusing, and it can prevent you from moving normally and concentrating on your daily activities. Plus, dealing with chronic pain can leave you and your doctor perplexed.

 

Chronic pain serves no biologic purpose as it is not related to the threat of tissue damage. Chronic pain can be considered a disease state and can persist for months or years.

 

Often times, pain occurs when there is little or no tissue damage. Why is the pain lasting long after the tissues are healed? Why are medicines not effective in treating your pain? Is there something really wrong? These questions may be difficult to answer, and finding the best treatment for your chronic pain may be equally difficult.

 

Treatments Types

 

There are many different treatments available for chronic pain. Finding the best one for you can take a little trial and error.

 

• Physical therapy (PT)

• Medication (oral or injected)

• Supplements and natural remedies

• Manual Therapy (Physical Therapy Specialty)

• Massage

• Acupuncture

• Exercise

• Meditation

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

 

There are likely more items to add to this list, and you may find one remedy helpful while another may not be effective for your pain at all. Physical therapy may be an option to treat your chronic pain, and working with a physical therapist who is a Certified Neuromuscular Manaul Therapist (CNMT) has been shown to help chronic pain sufferers improve their function while decreasing or eliminating their pain.

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What to Expect

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When attending physical therapy for chronic pain, your first session will be an initial evaluation. During this session, you will meet your physical therapist and discuss your condition.

 

Your therapist should ask questions about your pain and how it behaves. Is your pain present constantly or intermittently, and how does it affect your life? What makes it better or worse? Your physical therapist should also ask about any previous treatments you have received and the effect those treatments have had.

 

We might do a review of your overall medical history and will perform various tests and measures to get a sense of any impairments that may be contributing to your pain, including:

 

• Range of motion

• Posture

• Strength

• Balance

• Endurance

 

Some of these tests may increase your pain, while others may cause your pain to decrease. Be sure to communicate with your physical therapist how you are feeling and how sensations are changing during your evaluation.

 

Once your PT evaluation is complete, your physical therapist should work with you to develop realistic and attainable goals for therapy. Goals may include: pain relief, extended range of motion, increased strength and improved functional mobility. Your goals should be personal and should give you a road map to follow during your rehabilitation program. Finally, your treatment can begin.

 

Finding What Works

 

Some Treatments Not Proven Effective

Some PT treatments for chronic pain are based on theoretical models and have not been proven to be effective for pain. Does this mean that they will not be effective for you? No. It simply means that in studies of large groups of people with similar characteristics, some treatments have not been proven to work. Understanding the research can help you make informed decisions about your care.