CHRONIC PAIN SYMPTOMS CURES AND CAUSES

What is chronic pain?
Pain that lasts for 3 months or longer is called chronic. Pain is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. It’s normal for you to have pain when you are injured or ill. But pain that lasts for weeks, months, or years is not normal.

Chronic pain can occur anywhere in your body. It can range from being mild and annoying to being so bad that it gets in the way of your daily activities.

Anyone can get chronic pain. It’s more common in older adults, but it’s not a normal part of aging. Older adults are more likely to have long-term medical problems, such as diabetes or arthritis, which can lead to ongoing pain.

What causes chronic pain?The cause of chronic pain is not always clear. It may occur because brain chemicals that usually stop pain after you get better from an illness or injury are not working right. Or damaged nerves can cause the pain. Chronic pain can also occur without a known cause.

What are the symptoms?Common symptoms of chronic pain include:

Mild to very bad pain that does not go away as expected.
Pain that is shooting, burning, aching, or electrical.
Soreness, tightness, or stiffness.

What other problems can chronic pain cause?If you have pain for a long time, it can make you feel very tired and may lead to depression. It can get in the way of your usual social and physical activities. You may have so much pain that you can't go to work or school. The emotional upset may make your pain worse. Your body’s defense system (immune system) may get weak, leading to lots of infections and illnesses.

How is chronic pain diagnosed?
Your doctor can find out if you have chronic pain by asking about your past illnesses and your overall health. He or she will also do a physical exam.

You may have tests to find out if a medical problem is causing the pain. Your doctor may check for problems with your nervous system and may order blood tests. He or she may also ask you questions to check your mood and mental health and to see how well you are able to think, reason, and remember. In most cases, test results are normal. This can make it hard to know the exact cause of the pain. But this doesn't mean that your pain isn't real.

How is it treated?
You can use home treatment for mild pain or pain that you have now and then. Exercising, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy foods may help reduce chronic pain. Using over-the-counter pain medicines such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen may also help. You may want to try complementary therapies such as massage and yoga.

Talk to your doctor if your pain does not go away or if it gets worse. You may need to try different treatments to find what works for you. Medicines you take by mouth, shots of numbing medicine, acupuncture, nerve stimulation, and surgery are used for some types of chronic pain. It is important to make a clear treatment plan with your doctor. The best plan may include combining treatments.

Living with chronic pain can be hard. Counseling may help you cope. It can also help you deal with frustration, fear, anger, depression, and anxiety. Chronic pain often can be managed so that you can get on with your life and do your daily activities.

In addition to medicine or surgery, other treatments can be helpful in reducing chronic pain.

Other Treatment Choices
Additional treatments for chronic pain may include:

Physical therapy. This may include hot and cold therapy to relieve painful areas of the body. It may also include stretching and range-of-motion exercises to maintain strength, flexibility, and mobility.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). TENS applies brief pulses of electricity to nerve endings in the skin to relieve chronic pain.

Professional counseling (such as cognitive-behavioral therapy). This treatment focuses on your mental health and conditions such as stress and depression, which can accompany chronic pain and make it worse. It is important to be healthy emotionally as well as physically, to recover from chronic pain.


Complementary therapies
Complementary therapies may reduce pain, help you cope with stress, and improve your emotional and physical well-being.

These include:

Acupuncture, a treatment based on traditional Chinese medicine, where very thin needles are inserted into the skin at certain points on the body to produce energy flow.

Aromatherapy, or essential oils therapy, which uses a plant's aroma-producing oils (essential oils) to treat disease.

Biofeedback, a method of consciously controlling a body function that is normally regulated automatically by the body, such as skin temperature.

Chiropractic therapy, a hands-on therapy based on the theory that many medical disorders (especially disorders of the nervous system) may be caused by subluxations in the spine.

Guided imagery, a series of thoughts and suggestions that direct a person's imagination toward a relaxed, focused state.

Healing touch, which influences a person's physical or emotional health without physically touching the person.

Homeopathy, or homeopathic medicine, which is a medical philosophy and practice based on the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself.

Hydrotherapy, which uses water, in any form, to treat a disease or to maintain health.

Hypnosis, which is a state of focused concentration during which a person becomes less aware of his or her surroundings. Some people learn to manage pain through concentrating in this special way. INSIDERS HEALTH INFORMATION

Magnet field therapy, a treatment that uses magnets to stimulate areas of the body to try to maintain health and treat illness.

Massage, which is rubbing the soft tissues of the body, such as the muscles, to help reduce tension and pain, improve blood flow, and encourage relaxation.
Meditation, which is the practice of focusing your attention to help you feel calm and give you a clear awareness about your life.

Naturopathy, which promotes using organic foods and exercise; maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle; and applying concepts from other areas of complementary medicine (such as ayurveda, homeopathy, and herbal therapies) to try to improve health, prevent disease, and treat illness.

Yoga, which uses meditation and exercises to help you improve flexibility and breathing, decrease stress, and maintain health.

If you decide to try one or more of these complementary therapies to treat your chronic pain, find a health professional who has special training and, whenever possible, certification in the particular therapy. You may get a referral from someone you trust such as your health professional, family, or friends. Make sure all of your health professionals know every type of treatment you are using to reduce chronic pain WE RECOMEND TRYING THE BEST SOURCE FOR CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS HERE OUR HEALTH BLOG IS QUICKLY BECOMING #1 SEE WHY