Chronic pain as the name suggests is the pain that is experienced long term more often for weeks, months and even years. Chronic pain is one that persists even after the injury or illness that has created it has healed. The pain signals in the brain/nervous system remains active for long-term. Chronic pain can cause several emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, and anger and sometimes fear. These factors can disturb the affected person to such an extent that it may take more than normal period for him/her to return to normalcy.
Chronic Pain .Vs. Acute Pain :
Acute pain is experienced suddenly and is felt as sharp staggering pain. Often acute pain is considered as a warning signal for the underlying disease that needs immediate medical treatment. Some of the examples of acute pain are broken bones or fracture, pain caused during or after dental procedures, pain felt after surgery and pain felt during labor. Acute pain does not lasts longer but chronic pain can be felt for weeks or even months together. Acute pain will disappear if the underlying medical cause or injury is treated or healed but chronic pain will not disappear even after the cause is treated. Some of the common types of chronic pain are arthritis pain, headache, low back pain and cancer pain.
For some people chronic pain would have originated after trauma or physical injury to the body part and it often continues as ongoing cause. But in some cases chronic pain can be felt without any apparent cause. Chronic pain can range from mild to sharp pain disrupting the daily routine of the affected person. It is common in both sexes and is more common in elderly adults. Chronic pain is a symptom of aging process and older adults would have more types of medical issues like diabetes or arthritis than normal adults.