Why does acute pain become chronic

Pain and your mood go hand-in-hand, so the stress of chronic pain can lead to a vicious cycle. Prolonged periods of pain can lead to anxiety, irritability, poor sleep, fatigue, and depression. The stress of these psychological problems add to the reactivity of the nervous system, which worsens the pain. Chronic pain from central sensitization can occur with all pain conditions, including acute spine injuries, whiplash injuries, failed back surgery syndrome, and disorders of the spine.

Chronic pain lasts for weeks, months, even years. Generally, it is diagnosed after three to six months of pain. Chronic pain can take many forms, but treatment depends on which of three major categories it falls into:. Your physician will help determine the root cause of your pain and determine a treatment path, which may include:. Some chronic pain responds to conservative therapies, such as physical therapy, NSAID pain relievers, and chiropractic adjustment.

These treatments are usually most effective in treating pain with an identifiable cause, as they can help strengthen supporting muscles and correct postural and structural imbalances that cause pain. Treatment for long-term chronic pain relief sometimes relies heavily upon the use of opioid painkillers.

Opioid medications may offer temporary relief from pain with and without an identifiable cause but are usually not effective in relieving neuropathic pain. These medications come with the risk of addiction and may not be effective for lasting pain relief. Patients often develop a tolerance to the medication which in turn requires higher dosages, leading down a potentially dangerous path. Minimally-invasive injections and treatments traditionally focus on helping with rapid and effective pain relief that can let patients resume healthy mobility and promote long-term spine health.

These treatments are most effective for pain with an identifiable cause, although can also be applied to pain with no identifiable cause. These treatments include epidural steroid injections , radiofrequency ablations , and facet joint injection. Surgery is often an invasive option that may include lengthier healing periods, more or less significant pain during recovery, and varying inpatient hospital stays.

Spinal Cord Stimulation SCS therapy directs mild electrical pulses that modify or block nerve activity in a non-medicinal way to minimize the sensation of pain reaching the brain. Some patients report that they have gone from discomfort that they had ranked as a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10 to a much more manageable 3 out of Others have reported that their pain has disappeared completely with use of the stimulator.

The transition from acute to chronic pain appears to occur in discrete pathophysiological and histopathological steps. Stimuli initiating a nociceptive response vary, but receptors and endogenous defence mechanisms in the periphery interact in a similar manner regardless of the insult.

Chemical, mechanical, and thermal receptors, along with leucocytes and macrophages, determine the intensity, location, and duration of noxious events. Noxious stimuli are transduced to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, where amino acid and peptide transmitters activate second-order neurones. When it comes to pain, there are no guarantees, but there are some steps you can take to prevent chronic pain resulting from the known causes.

Some steps address lifestyle risks. It is possible to prevent chronic pain caused by not behaving in a way that aggravates a medical condition or injury, or placing yourself in circumstances where you have a high risk of hurting yourself. Unfortunately, chronic pain prevention remains elusive.

Once chronic pain develops, the next thing people want to know is how to stop chronic pain. The treatment plan depends on the complexity of the known or suspected cause of pain. For example, people with rheumatoid arthritis can get a monthly dosage of a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug DMARD which can reduce inflammation and prevent chronic pain.

Sometimes, stopping chronic pain takes a more complex approach. It may involve:. Living with acute and chronic pain is difficult. In fact, one of the leading causes of disability is chronic pain.