We all feel pain but do we really understand it? Pain is an unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity associated with injury, disease or emotional disorder.
What types of pain are there?
- Acute pain as a result of injury to the body and generally disappears when the physical injury heals. Acute pain is linked to tissue injury, which is things like surgery, muscle strains, labour and delivery. You will generally be able to pin point the site of pain when acute.
- Chronic pain, on the other hand, lasts longer than the healing period - usually at least 3 months. The pain is often vague as well, making it harder to pin point. There are two types of chronic pain - neuropathic and non neuropathic.
- Neuropathic pain is caused by injury to a nerve and is often described as a numbness, tingling or burning type of pain. Conditions that come to mind with neuropathic pain are diabetes, shingles or peripheral vascular disease.
- Non neuropathic pain is poorly localised and can feel like a pounding deep ache.
To explain pain simply:
- The injury occurs
- The nerves then pick up the injury and send a message to the brain
- The brain begins to process the message and alerts the body of the pain and responds appropriately
That is why it's important for you to have the connection between the brain and the body checked regularly. If messages can't get to and from the brain efficiently then the healing process slows down and you feel pain for longer than necessary.
So what do you need to do if you are experiencing acute or chronic pain? Specific treatment options need to be tailored to each individual. So be sure to consult us at Cromwell Chiropractic or your health care provider to determine the right treatment for you.
Call us on 03 445 4688