Doctors and pain management experts typically distinguish the pain you experience in life as either acute or chronic pain. But what does that mean exactly? After all, isn’t pain exactly that—pain?
While most people might say yes, the reality is that acute and chronic pain are two completely different diagnoses, and knowing the difference will help you have more productive conversations with your doctor, identify the root cause of that pain, and find a treatment option that works for your unique situation.
“This is something we get calls for all the time at Advanced Pain Institute of Texas,” Dr. Eric Anderson said. “There is some confusion out there, and we want to be the ones to help people understand the difference.”
Simply put, acute pain happens quickly and can usually be tied to a specific event or cause (broken leg, slip, and fall, a burn or cut, surgery, recent dental work, etc.). The pain is there for a reason: it signals something is wrong.
The good news is that, depending on the severity, acute pain improves with time. The same cannot always be said for chronic pain. This pain lasts three months or longer and may not have an underlying injury or event the patient can point to as the culprit. Sure, their knees, shoulders, back, or abdomen hurt, but there’s seemingly no rhyme or reason to their situation. The pain can be severe and constant; it can also come and go.
In most cases, chronic pain is linked to conditions such as arthritis, nerve damage, fibromyalgia, and more.
“Chronic pain typically doesn’t serve a purpose,” Dr. John Broadnax said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t, but it usually doesn’t. As pain travels throughout the body, it creates pathways in the spinal cord and brain—much like a pain highway—that stick around and don’t resolve themselves quickly. We try to interrupt those well-established pain highways with injections, medications, therapies, etc.”
The message here is that if you are suffering from acute pain, it might be best to wait and see how your condition improves. If your pain persists, speaking to a pain management specialist is best.
The Advanced Pain Institute of Texas is the standard-bearer in whole-body pain management in Lewisville. It offers a full-spectrum, multidisciplinary approach to providing the best patient-focused care for chronic pain conditions. To learn more, visit apitexas.com.
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