Chronic Pain

What is Chronic Pain?

Chronic or persistent pain is pain that carries on for longer than 12 weeks despite treatment or medication.

Types of Chronic Pain

• Arthritis, or joint pain.
• Back pain.
• Neck pain.
• Cancer pain near a tumor.
• Headaches, including migraines.
• Testicular pain (orchialgia).
• Lasting pain in scar tissue.
• Muscle pain all over (such as with fibromyalgia).
• Neurogenic pain, from damage to the nerves or other parts of the nervous system.

The most effective pain management treatment uses a combination of the 4P's: prevention, psychological, physical, and pharmaceutical

• Planning your day - Make a plan of things to do and places to be to help you keep on top of your pain.
• Pacing yourself - Don’t push through the ongoing pain, take a break before it gets worse then go back to whatever you were doing after some downtime. 

• Relax - Relaxing can be hard when you have pain but meditation and mindfulness can help distract you from the pain.

• Doing Exercise - This will help keep your joints and muscles strong as well as easing the pain. 

• Medicine - Although this can be helpful temporarily, it is a good idea to avoid it where possible as it is very easy to become reliant on them. 

• Build a support network - Make sure to inform family and friends of your struggles. 

• Enjoyment - Doing activities that help boost your serotonin which is known as the happy chemical can help deal with the pain. 

A good first step to helping yourself is to watch this video ‘Understanding Pain in Less than 5 Minutes and What to do About it’