Chronic pain is associated with many health conditions that affect more people in American than any other disease, including, diabetes, cancer and heart ailments combined. The estimated annual health cost in the United States for all different pain cases alone is $100 billion. There are mainly two types of pain – acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain is an onset reaction of the body that needs immediate attention, it is often experienced as a result of an injury. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is pain the lasts for 3-6 months or longer.

You may be suffering from chronic pain and there are times where people that are important to you like your family may not fully understand what you are going through.

So, keep in mind these 5 important things about chronic pain to fully understand what you’re experiencing and to share this knowledge with your loved ones.

• Chronic pain is a serious condition

People who are experiencing chronic pain are often treated like they are exaggerating or making up this condition. But what others don’t know is that the pain is real and serious – at times there’s even no known cause of it. Most people who are living in pain just want to have their quality of life back by reducing the pain that they are experiencing.

At times like this, it is important for family members and friends to show support, care and understanding. Don’t say statements that would make them feel discouraged or disheartened.

Pain clinics such as Coral Gables pain management, approach pain patients holistically. They always make sure they provide a continuous treatment to their patients.

• Chronic pain causes dysfunction

A person who suffers from chronic pain often experiences long-term lack of physical activity, which leads to a condition called disuse syndrome. This type of syndrome affects a person’s musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, neurological, psychological and emotional function. In worse cases, disuse syndrome may cause many health complications that may weaken a person’s well being. More so, it is important to talk to your pain management doctor to avoid having this type of syndrome and to undergo appropriate treatment methods for chronic pain.

• Chronic pain affects sleep patterns

It’s often challenging for pain patients to fall asleep. But not getting the sleep that your body needs makes chronic pain even worse. If your sleep is always interrupted, you need to immediately tell your doctor and make sure you are being treated for it – both should be treated together.

• Chronic pain affects focus and concentration

People who suffer from chronic pain may have a hard time focusing on specific tasks, or can easily lost their concentration. These problems are the common side effects of chronic pain, and sometimes are due to an underlying health conditions.

• People feel pain differently

Every person feels pain differently and to a different extent. Most of the time people with the same condition don’t experience identical pain sensations. For example, you can feel slight pain due to an illness, while the others may feel severe pain.

Remember that poorly managed pain can cause more health complications. If you are experiencing long term pain, it’s about time you visit a pain management doctor who can help you relieve the pain, optimizing your quality of life. Coral Gables pain management is a reliable pain clinic with a highly trained doctor who specializes in evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of all types of pain.

The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.  Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.

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