Summary
- Acute pain is caused by something specific and goes away when the cause is healed.
- Chronic pain is ongoing and negatively affects a person’s quality of life or ability to function.
Pain travels by electrical current through nerves from a part of your body to your brain. It warns your brain that something is not right. There are two major types of pain—acute and chronic.
Acute pain
Acute pain usually starts suddenly, like when you step on something sharp. It usually has a specific cause, like injury or illness. Acute pain can be mild or severe. It can last for a few minutes or for up to three months. It usually goes away once the cause is treated or the injury is healed. Treating acute pain depends on the cause. There are many causes of pain. Some common sources of pain include:
- Headaches
- Surgery
- Injuries
- Stomachache
- Infections
- Childbirth
Chronic pain
Health professionals define chronic pain in several ways. They say pain is chronic if it:
- Lasts longer than 12 weeks
- Lasts more than four weeks after the cause is treated
- Is ongoing and hurts the person’s well-being, quality of life or ability to function
Chronic pain can start as acute pain, or it can start slowly and be part of an ongoing health issue. Sometimes, it is hard to figure out the cause of chronic pain. There may be no clear cause, and no test can show pain. Some common health issues that cause chronic pain include:
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Cancer
Chronic pain can be very challenging. It can be constant or come and go. It can interfere with daily life. Chronic pain itself can cause physical symptoms, such as:
- Low energy
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of mobility
- Decreased strength and stamina
- Insomnia
Chronic pain can also cause emotional symptoms, such as:
- Depression
- Anger
- Fear
- Despair
Talk to your doctor about pain
Health professionals depend on you to describe your pain. People experience pain in different ways, to different degrees. Sometimes it is hard to communicate your pain. Different types of pain are controlled by different types of nerves. Sharp pain is easier to tell exactly where it’s located. Dull pain may be more spread out and harder to describe in words.
It can help to keep a record. A pain record or pain diary makes it easier to answer your doctor’s questions. Complete and accurate information can help your doctor find the cause of the pain or how to treat it. Some questions your doctor may ask are:
- Where does it hurt?
- What does it feel like?
- When did it start?
- Does it hurt all the time or come and go?
- What makes the pain worse or better?
- What other symptoms do you have?
- How bad is the pain?
You can make your own pain record in a notebook or on a phone or computer, but there are many helpful tools available. These tools were created by health professionals and experienced patients.
Health professionals also use pain scales to understand your pain. Scales are ways of ranking pain by using numbers to tell medical professionals how bad the pain feels. One scale is the Wong Baker Faces Pain Scale. It is used mostly with children but is used with adults, too. It has six faces with different expressions. Each face is labeled from “No hurt” to “Hurts worst!” Your doctor will ask you to point to the face that shows how you feel. There is also a Comparative Pain Scale. Doctors ask people to rate their pain on a scale of one to 10.
The trouble is pain is subjective. Subjective means that one person’s rating of severity of pain may not be the same as another person’s. All people feel pain differently and there is no laboratory test to tell how bad the pain feels. Pain you label two or three might be called four or five by another person. What matters most is consistency. It does not matter that the numbers may mean something else to other people. By sticking with a method over time, you and your doctor can understand your pain.
It is also helpful to know how to describe the quality of your pain. Some examples are:
- Aching
- Cramping
- Gnawing
- Heavy
- Burning
- Sharp
- Stabbing
- Tender
- Throbbing
- Freezing
- Pins and needles
- Tingling
Summary
- Acute pain is caused by something specific and goes away when the cause is healed.
- Chronic pain is ongoing and negatively affects a person’s quality of life or ability to function.
Pain travels by electrical current through nerves from a part of your body to your brain. It warns your brain that something is not right. There are two major types of pain—acute and chronic.
Acute pain
Acute pain usually starts suddenly, like when you step on something sharp. It usually has a specific cause, like injury or illness. Acute pain can be mild or severe. It can last for a few minutes or for up to three months. It usually goes away once the cause is treated or the injury is healed. Treating acute pain depends on the cause. There are many causes of pain. Some common sources of pain include:
- Headaches
- Surgery
- Injuries
- Stomachache
- Infections
- Childbirth
Chronic pain
Health professionals define chronic pain in several ways. They say pain is chronic if it:
- Lasts longer than 12 weeks
- Lasts more than four weeks after the cause is treated
- Is ongoing and hurts the person’s well-being, quality of life or ability to function
Chronic pain can start as acute pain, or it can start slowly and be part of an ongoing health issue. Sometimes, it is hard to figure out the cause of chronic pain. There may be no clear cause, and no test can show pain. Some common health issues that cause chronic pain include:
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Cancer
Chronic pain can be very challenging. It can be constant or come and go. It can interfere with daily life. Chronic pain itself can cause physical symptoms, such as:
- Low energy
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of mobility
- Decreased strength and stamina
- Insomnia
Chronic pain can also cause emotional symptoms, such as:
- Depression
- Anger
- Fear
- Despair
Talk to your doctor about pain
Health professionals depend on you to describe your pain. People experience pain in different ways, to different degrees. Sometimes it is hard to communicate your pain. Different types of pain are controlled by different types of nerves. Sharp pain is easier to tell exactly where it’s located. Dull pain may be more spread out and harder to describe in words.
It can help to keep a record. A pain record or pain diary makes it easier to answer your doctor’s questions. Complete and accurate information can help your doctor find the cause of the pain or how to treat it. Some questions your doctor may ask are:
- Where does it hurt?
- What does it feel like?
- When did it start?
- Does it hurt all the time or come and go?
- What makes the pain worse or better?
- What other symptoms do you have?
- How bad is the pain?
You can make your own pain record in a notebook or on a phone or computer, but there are many helpful tools available. These tools were created by health professionals and experienced patients.
Health professionals also use pain scales to understand your pain. Scales are ways of ranking pain by using numbers to tell medical professionals how bad the pain feels. One scale is the Wong Baker Faces Pain Scale. It is used mostly with children but is used with adults, too. It has six faces with different expressions. Each face is labeled from “No hurt” to “Hurts worst!” Your doctor will ask you to point to the face that shows how you feel. There is also a Comparative Pain Scale. Doctors ask people to rate their pain on a scale of one to 10.
The trouble is pain is subjective. Subjective means that one person’s rating of severity of pain may not be the same as another person’s. All people feel pain differently and there is no laboratory test to tell how bad the pain feels. Pain you label two or three might be called four or five by another person. What matters most is consistency. It does not matter that the numbers may mean something else to other people. By sticking with a method over time, you and your doctor can understand your pain.
It is also helpful to know how to describe the quality of your pain. Some examples are:
- Aching
- Cramping
- Gnawing
- Heavy
- Burning
- Sharp
- Stabbing
- Tender
- Throbbing
- Freezing
- Pins and needles
- Tingling
Summary
- Acute pain is caused by something specific and goes away when the cause is healed.
- Chronic pain is ongoing and negatively affects a person’s quality of life or ability to function.
Pain travels by electrical current through nerves from a part of your body to your brain. It warns your brain that something is not right. There are two major types of pain—acute and chronic.
Acute pain
Acute pain usually starts suddenly, like when you step on something sharp. It usually has a specific cause, like injury or illness. Acute pain can be mild or severe. It can last for a few minutes or for up to three months. It usually goes away once the cause is treated or the injury is healed. Treating acute pain depends on the cause. There are many causes of pain. Some common sources of pain include:
- Headaches
- Surgery
- Injuries
- Stomachache
- Infections
- Childbirth
Chronic pain
Health professionals define chronic pain in several ways. They say pain is chronic if it:
- Lasts longer than 12 weeks
- Lasts more than four weeks after the cause is treated
- Is ongoing and hurts the person’s well-being, quality of life or ability to function
Chronic pain can start as acute pain, or it can start slowly and be part of an ongoing health issue. Sometimes, it is hard to figure out the cause of chronic pain. There may be no clear cause, and no test can show pain. Some common health issues that cause chronic pain include:
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Cancer
Chronic pain can be very challenging. It can be constant or come and go. It can interfere with daily life. Chronic pain itself can cause physical symptoms, such as:
- Low energy
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of mobility
- Decreased strength and stamina
- Insomnia
Chronic pain can also cause emotional symptoms, such as:
- Depression
- Anger
- Fear
- Despair
Talk to your doctor about pain
Health professionals depend on you to describe your pain. People experience pain in different ways, to different degrees. Sometimes it is hard to communicate your pain. Different types of pain are controlled by different types of nerves. Sharp pain is easier to tell exactly where it’s located. Dull pain may be more spread out and harder to describe in words.
It can help to keep a record. A pain record or pain diary makes it easier to answer your doctor’s questions. Complete and accurate information can help your doctor find the cause of the pain or how to treat it. Some questions your doctor may ask are:
- Where does it hurt?
- What does it feel like?
- When did it start?
- Does it hurt all the time or come and go?
- What makes the pain worse or better?
- What other symptoms do you have?
- How bad is the pain?
You can make your own pain record in a notebook or on a phone or computer, but there are many helpful tools available. These tools were created by health professionals and experienced patients.
Health professionals also use pain scales to understand your pain. Scales are ways of ranking pain by using numbers to tell medical professionals how bad the pain feels. One scale is the Wong Baker Faces Pain Scale. It is used mostly with children but is used with adults, too. It has six faces with different expressions. Each face is labeled from “No hurt” to “Hurts worst!” Your doctor will ask you to point to the face that shows how you feel. There is also a Comparative Pain Scale. Doctors ask people to rate their pain on a scale of one to 10.
The trouble is pain is subjective. Subjective means that one person’s rating of severity of pain may not be the same as another person’s. All people feel pain differently and there is no laboratory test to tell how bad the pain feels. Pain you label two or three might be called four or five by another person. What matters most is consistency. It does not matter that the numbers may mean something else to other people. By sticking with a method over time, you and your doctor can understand your pain.
It is also helpful to know how to describe the quality of your pain. Some examples are:
- Aching
- Cramping
- Gnawing
- Heavy
- Burning
- Sharp
- Stabbing
- Tender
- Throbbing
- Freezing
- Pins and needles
- Tingling