Chronic pain is defined as any pain that lasts for three months or longer. It can come in many forms, such as headaches, joint pain, and back pain. Normally, pain is your body’s way of letting you know something is wrong. When you get injured, pain signals travel from the injured part of your body to your brain. But chronic pain is different. It can stick around long after you’ve healed, or not be connected to an injury at all.
Sometimes chronic pain arises following an injury, surgery, or infection. Even after the physical issue heals, sometimes the pain can stick around due to psychological reasons.
Other times, chronic pain is the result of an ongoing issue like arthritis or fibromyalgia. And in some cases, the source may not be clear.
There are a few factors that increase your risk of developing chronic pain, such as being overweight, smoking, or having depression. Women are also at a higher risk than men of developing chronic pain.
When you’re suffering from chronic pain, it causes stress on your body and can affect your mental health. This can lead to a range of other symptoms. Some examples include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Trouble sleeping
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Relationship problems
- Loss of sex drive
- Drug abuse
- Suicidal thoughts
In addition, if you change the way you move to accommodate your chronic pain, it can lead to joint pain or muscle strains in other areas.
Since the possible causes of chronic pain are so diverse, a wide variety of therapies are used to treat it.
- Physiotherapy: Can relieve pain and solve physical limitations caused by chronic pain.
- Medications: Anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and muscle relaxants can provide some relief from chronic pain.
- Mental health counselling: Can help with the mental health issues that arise from chronic pain, and help with pain management.
- Acupuncture: Can boost your body’s natural painkillers and stimulate healing.
Our physiotherapists can identify the root of chronic pain and create a treatment plan to solve it. The plan can involve a combination of different treatments and services including:
- Diagnostics such as CT scan, MRI, and ultrasound
- Customized exercises and stretches
- Aqua therapy
- Massage therapy
- Chiropractic
- Spinal traction
- Acupuncture
- TENS therapy
- Interferential current therapy (IFC)
- Recommendations on how to overcome functional limitations
- Bracing
- Custom orthotics
One of the best ways to prevent chronic pain is to not ignore pain when it first appears. Whether you’ve been injured or have unexplained pain, getting it checked out can prevent it from becoming more serious.
Another preventative measure is to reduce your risk factors, which include stress, poor diet, smoking, and inadequate sleep.
Don’t continue to live in pain. Our dedicated and knowledgeable healthcare providers will help you figure out the cause and solve it.