Chronic Pain Treatment in Morganfield

Understanding Chronic Pain

Finding the real cause, not just the symptom.

We’ve all had sprained ankles and pulled back muscles. And while those incidents are never pleasant, the pain rarely lasts more than a few weeks at most. Chronic pain, on the other hand, can go on for months or even years, especially when you can’t find the proper diagnosis or treatment for it.

Apart from the longer timeframe, chronic pain differs from the other main category of pain — acute pain — in that it doesn’t always have a cause you can pinpoint. In fact, while acute pain normally comes from a sudden illness or injury, chronic pain might stem from a wrenched back that happened so long ago that you don’t remember. Alternatively, your pain may have its origins from non-injury conditions, such as a degenerating disk, aging joints, or a pinched nerve.

Most importantly, chronic pain differs from acute pain in that it sometimes can’t be measured or even found through traditional testing like X-rays. Of course, sometimes inflammation can be detected with these diagnostic tools, but often it’s a physical therapist who is best able to determine the location and extent of the damage.