Chronic pain (or persistent pain) is pain that lasts for more than six months. There are different types and causes of chronic pain. You may have chronic pain due to a disease or illness such as Arthritis or a syndrome such as Fibromyalgia. Alternatively, episodes of back pain, sciatica, neck pain or shoulder pain can become persistent and not resolve.
People with chronic pain in fact commonly experience difficulty sleeping, fatigue, low mood and reduced overall ability to function both mentally and physically in everyday life.
The first step in learning to live a better quality of life when you have chronic pain is to have a detailed clinical assessment from a clinician with specialist knowledge in this area.
Our pain system is basically our warning system. It alerts us to danger of harm or injury. However in some cases – when pain persists after healing has occurred, this warning system remains switched on and we get persistent pain.
When pain persists, the nervous system becomes more sensitive. Our pain system is basically our warning system. It alerts us to danger of harm or injury. However in some cases – when pain persists after healing has occurred, this warning system remains switched on and we get persistent pain. When pain persists, the nervous system becomes more sensitive. It starts to act as if gentle movements, muscle contractions and pressure on our body are somehow dangerous to us. As time passes, it starts to take less movement to increase the pain. At PhysioPlus, our Chartered physiotherapists provide a comprehensive assessment focusing on the history of your pain experience and you goals in achieving a good quality of life living with chronic pain. We will work with you in providing you with specific exercises and coping strategies to help reduce your pain and its impact on your life. Paced return to activity and exercise is of utmost importance when you have chronic pain. Part of learning to manage persistent pain under the guidance of your physiotherapist is learning how to build up activity and exercise without having flare-ups of pain. For chronic pain there is no “magic bullet” that will take all of the pain away. Rather there are a number of strategies that can help.
