I have pain that lasts longer (chronic pain)
What is chronic pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts or is heavier than expected (for example, after recovery from an illness or damage). Acute pain is caused by tissue damage, overload, inflammation or an illness. Depending on the disease or condition, the pain can last a long time. After the cause has stopped, treated or healed, the pain disappears again. Do you still have pain for no apparent reason, or more pain than expected? Then we call it chronic pain. Chronic pain is annoying, but not dangerous. The pain can have a lot of influence on your life, how you feel and what you can do. Both at home and at work. See Also:
How does chronic pain arise? We do not know exactly how chronic pain arises. Your pain is probably related to how your body, your thoughts and your environment respond to the pain. We call these physical, psychological and social factors. These factors affect how you experience the pain and how you manage it. How does your body respond to the pain? When you have pain for a long time (for example due to a wound or inflammation), your nerves can become extra sensitive. The nerves then send extra pain stimuli to your brain. The pain you experience becomes more severe, lasts longer or spreads. Even touching or moving can hurt. Sometimes your nerves remain hypersensitive, even though there is no longer a clear cause for the pain. The nerves continue to send pain impulses to your brain, even though the cause (for example, a wound or inflammation) has been treated and healed. What thoughts and feelings do you have in pain? What you think and feel affects how you experience the pain and how you manage it. If you think the pain is harmful or indicates a serious illness, it can make you feel unsure, anxious, and gloomy. You may avoid certain activities and activities as a result. Anxiety, agitation, tension, uncertainty, loneliness, gloom and boredom can worsen and perpetuate the pain. Thinking, worrying, worrying endlessly, and a feeling of helplessness can worsen and sustain the pain. How does your environment respond to the pain? If people in your area are very concerned, it can increase your own anxiety and pain. Sometimes your environment will take care of you and you will have to do less yourself. That can be nice, but sometimes it stops you from starting activities yourself. Attention, recognition, understanding, reassurance, distraction, relaxation, safety, and confidence can alleviate the pain. This often makes it easier to start activities yourself. |