Nearly everyone feels pain from time to time. It happens when you hurt yourself, like pulling a muscle or cutting your finger. Pain is an important signal that something is not right. Chronic (meaning long-lasting) pain is different. You keep hurting for weeks, months, or possibly years after injury. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts for or comes back for at least 3 months. About 50 million Americans have chronic pain. It is one of the leading causes of missed work and it is the number one reason why people seek medical care. If untreated, it can lead to serious mental health problems such as depression.
You can have chronic pain for many reasons. The most common areas of chronic pain may sound familiar to you. They are back, knee, hip, and foot pain, usually caused by arthritis, injuries and/or surgery. Headaches are also high on the list. Other reasons for chronic pain include conditions such as fibromyalgia, pain syndromes, and nerve damage. The pain may be:
- Sharp
- Shooting
- Dull aching
- Burning
- Pressure-like
- Soreness
There are many approaches to treating chronic pain. For instance, low back pain (which is very common) can be treated with traditional treatments such as changing your activities, heat, physical therapy, and over-the-counter pain medications. If those do not work, then stronger medications such as opioid pain medications may be used, but they are closely monitored. An advanced treatment is to have a specialist inject the spot where the pain starts in the back with anti-inflammatory medications, like steroids combined with a long-acting pain medication. If things do not get better, back surgery may be needed.
A word of caution about opioid medications – they can be effective in the beginning, but over time they become less effective. You develop a tolerance to the medication. The amount of the medication is increased as a result of the building tolerance and can result in addiction or physical dependence on the drug with long term use. Therefore, these medications are strictly supervised. Do not at any time take more than what your provider has given you. You should not take other people’s medications, even if you have similar pain or symptoms to theirs.
Finally, no matter what type of pain you are having that may be interfering with everyday life and making you feel down, you should talk to your medical provider about having the pain treated and your mental health addressed. There are many options available to treat chronic pain and get you on the road to wellness.