Dealing With Chronic Pain? Here’s What You Need To Know
Pain is a normal part of being alive. It’s a protective message designed to keep us safe from danger. But sometimes, pain can develop into chronic pain. Chronic pain often involves pain signals that are distorted or amplified.
But although chronic pain can be complicated to deal with, there are some ways to cope when you are experiencing pain.
What is chronic pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts for a significant period of time. Different definitions state that it is more than 3 months, or more than 6 months. It can go on for months, years, and even decades, depending on what caused the initial pain and whether it goes untreated.
But chronic pain rarely exists by itself. It often brings along other symptoms and issues including fatigue and lethargy, brain fog, anxiety and depression. It can make a big impact of your quality of life. That’s why it’s essential to take a holistic management approach that reduces the effect on your life.
How is chronic pain different to acute pain?
Acute pain is short-term pain – usually days, weeks or up to a few months in duration. Acute pain is typically caused by an injury, trauma or some illnesses such as the flu. Whether you give yourself a paper cut, twist your ankle or break a bone, you’ll experience acute pain.
Chronic pain can stem from acute pain. But it will often act differently to acute pain. The pain you experience with chronic pain isn’t necessarily about the actual damage that occurred in the first place. Instead, your nervous system can rewire itself and become sensitised to danger messages.
Because chronic pain can include changes to the function and structure of your nervous system, it can be far more difficult to treat and manage.
What can cause chronic pain?
Many factors can play a role in the development of chronic pain. Although some cases have one clear cause, others can be a combination of dozens of factors. That’s why working with a practitioner can help you to clarify the situation and address the underlying causes and triggers.
With that being said, some risk factors and contributors to chronic pain include:
Previous injuries that haven’t healed
Injuries that been left untreated
‘Pushing through’ pain from an acute injury
Ongoing use of an already painful area
Changes to how the brain and nervous system process and respond to messages about potential dangers
Chronic inflammation from a previous injury or an underlying illness such as arthritis, cancer or multiple sclerosis (MS)
Psychological factors, including trauma, elevated stress levels and mental health conditions
Genetic factors that affect your brain chemicals, inflammation levels or susceptibility to health conditions
Some medications that can alter pain levels and perception
These are just a handful of the most common factors that lead to chronic pain. The more of these factors you have to deal with, the more likely it is that you’ll experience chronic pain of some kind.
It’s important to remember that no one is immune to chronic pain. Anyone of any age and any lifestyle can develop it. Even if you’re young, you can have chronic pain. Even if you live a healthy lifestyle, you can have chronic pain.
But if chronic pain is a concern for you, you’re not alone. There are steps you can take to start managing it today.
Mindfulness can be a handy strategy when it comes to managing chronic pain.
What can help with chronic pain?
The best way to manage chronic pain is to have a multi-therapy care plan that brings together health practitioners to address your specific concerns and factors. With that in mind, here are some steps that can help you to manage your pain levels:
1. Identify as many contributing factors as possible when it comes to your pain. That way, you can take actions to modify or reduce their effects whenever possible.
2. Learn about how pain works and the some of the science behind pain. Understanding chronic pain can reduce any anxiety or fear about damage and the experience of pain.
3. Find what feels good for you in terms of body movements and positions. If you know how to place your painful body part when pain hits, you won’t have to struggle to find a comfortable position.
4. Explore self-care strategies that can support you when pain comes around. Pain is a real experience, so you can’t ‘think’ your way out of it. But you can use tools such as meditation or deep breathing to reduce the intensity.
5. Have someone on your team that can support you when your pain flares or you have a bad day. This might be a family member, friend or even your favourite myotherapist!
If you’re struggling with chronic pain, we’re here to help. Myotherapy has a variety of tools that can relieve tension, discomfort and other symptoms of chronic pain. To book in your myotherapy appointment, click here.