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Treatments & Procedures

Acute vs. Chronic Pain

What is pain?
Pain is an uncom fortable feeling and/or an unpleasant sensation in the body . The presence of pain often is an
indication that som ething is wrong. Pain can appear suddenly or can com e about slowly .

Each indiv idual is the best judge of his or her own pain. Feelings of pain can range from m ild and occasional to
sev ere and constant. Pain can be classified as acute pain or chronic pain.

What is acute pain?

Acute pain begins suddenly and is usually sharp in quality . It serv es as a warning of disease or a threat to the body .
Acute pain m ight be caused by m any ev ents or circum stances, including:

Surgery
Broken bones
Dental work
Burns or cuts
Labor and childbirth

Acute pain m ight be m ild and last just a m om ent, or it m ight be sev ere and last for weeks or m onths. In m ost cases,
acute pain does not last longer than six m onths, and it disappears when the underly ing cause of pain has been
treated or has healed. Unreliev ed acute pain, howev er, m ight lead to chronic pain.

What is chronic pain?

Chronic pain persists despite the fact that the injury has healed. Pain signals rem ain activ e in the nerv ous sy stem
for weeks, m onths, or y ears. Phy sical effects include tense m uscles, lim ited m obility , a lack of energy , and changes
in appetite. Em otional effects include depression, anger, anxiety , and fear of re-injury . Such a fear m ight hinder a
persons ability to return to norm al work or leisure activ ities. Com m on chronic pain com plaints include:

Headache
Low back pain
Cancer pain
Arthritis pain
Neurogenic pain (pain resulting from dam age to nerv es)
Psy chogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any v isible sign of dam age inside)

Chronic pain m ight hav e originated with an initial traum a/injury or infection, or there m ight be an ongoing cause
of pain. Howev er, som e people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or ev idence of body dam age.

What is the difference between acute and chronic pain?

There m ight be no known cure for the disease (such as arthritis or phantom pain) that is causing the chronic
pain.
The cause of chronic pain m ight be unknown or poorly understood.

How is pain treated?

Depending upon its sev erity , pain m ight be treated in a num ber of way s. Sy m ptom atic options for the treatm ent of
pain m ight include one or m ore of the following:

Non-steroidal anti-inflam m atory drugs (NSAIDs), a specific ty pe of painkiller such as Motrin or Alev e
Acetam inophen (such as Ty lenol)
Narcotics (such as m orphine or codeine)
Localized anesthetic (a shot of a pain killer m edicine into the area of the pain)
Nerv e blocks (the blocking of a group of nerv es with local anesthetics)
Acupuncture
Electrical stim ulation
Phy sical therapy
Surgery
Psy chotherapy (talk therapy )
 Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing
Biofeedback (treatm ent technique in which people are trained to im prov e their health by using signals from
their own bodies)
Behav ior m odification

Som e pain m edicines are m ore effectiv e in fighting pain when they are com bined with other m ethods of treatm ent.
Patients m ight need to try v arious m ethods to m aintain m axim um pain relief.

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This information is provided by the Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or
health care provider. Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition. This
document was last reviewed on: 9/12/2008...#12051

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