Everybody will feel the occasional pains and aches at some point in their life. Sudden pains and aches are, in fact, a severe reaction by your nervous system that aids in alerting you to potential injury. Ordinarily, the pain will start to fade and become less painful as you recover from your injury.
But chronic pain is not like typical or normal pain. When an individual suffers from chronic pain, the body will continue sending pain signals from the injured site to the brain, even when the injury has healed. This pain could persist for a couple of weeks or years and could decrease mobility, endurance, strength and flexibility.
In turn, this will reduce your overall quality of life. The best resolution is to still seek chronic pain treatment in Tulsa from medical centers and clinics.
What Exactly is Chronic Pain?
By definition, chronic pain is basically pain that persists for 12 weeks or more. It may feel dull or sharp and result in an aching or burning feeling in the injured or affected sites. It can be intermittent or consistent and can appear in one or multiple areas on the body.
Chronic pain comes in different types, with the most common ones being the following:
- Headache
- Post-trauma pain
- Postsurgical pain
- Pain from cancer
- Lower back pain
- Neurogenic or pain due to damaged nerves
- Arthritis pain
- Psychogenic or pain that isn’t a result of nerve damage, injury, or disease
Why Does Chronic Pain Occur?
Chronic pain ordinarily occurs as a result of an injury like a strained muscle or sprained back. Experts believe that it typically develops following damage to the nerves, making the pain last more and feel more intense. In these instances, addressing the initial injury won’t do anything to treat chronic pain.
However, in some chronic pain cases, individuals suddenly feel chronic pain even without getting injured. In most cases, the pain could actually due to an underlying health problem like the ones below:
- Endometriosis – This painful disorder happens when a woman’s uterine tissue develops outside the uterus.
- Chronic Fatigue – This syndrome is marked by prolonged and severe fatigue that’s typically accompanied by intense pain.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD – This is a group of digestive issues that result in chronic and painful inflammation of the digestive tract.
- Fibromyalgia – This is characterized by pain in the muscles and bones.
- TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint Disorder – This condition results in painful locking, popping, and clicking in the jaw.
- Interstitial Cystitis – This chronic condition is characterized by pain and pressure in the bladder.
- Vulvodynia – This is marked by chronic pain in the vulva with no clear cause.
Dealing with and Treating Chronic Pain
The primary goal of treating chronic pain is to decrease pain and improve mobility. Since the frequency and severity of the condition widely vary from one person to another, you’ll be recommended a specific treatment plan that fits your individual requirements and circumstances.
Certain lifestyle remedies, medical interventions, or all these combined may help ease your chronic pain. Sure, it will take some time and trial and error for your treatment plan to work, but when it does, make certain to stick with it.
