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Chronic Pain
Chronic Pain
“While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different. Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. There may have been an initial mishap -- sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain -- arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage.
Many chronic pain conditions affect older adults. Common chronic pain complaints include headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain (pain resulting from damage to the peripheral nerves or to the central nervous system itself), psychogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system).
A person may have two or more co-existing chronic pain conditions. Such conditions can include chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial cystitis, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and vulvodynia. It is not known whether these disorders share a common cause.”
National Institute of neurological Disorders and Stroke: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chronic_pain/chronic_pain.htm
Retrieved March 22, 2011
Effects and Symptoms of Chronic Pain
Chronic pain reduces our overall quality of life for several reasons. First, when suffering from a chronic pain syndrome we can feel fatigued, tired and lethargic. This is usually due to biochemical process that is occurring in our body, reducing our ability to inhibit pain. Other common symptoms include
Restlessness
Irritability
Increased sensitivity to usually non painful stimulation
Fatigue
Mood changes
Pain lasting longer then the “normal duration”
Inability to gain restful sleep
Chronic Pain Management
Pain management can come in the form of medical care (medication, injections, surgery) or alternative care (chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, physiotherapy). In my opinion, it is almost always better to try alternative care first, and if that does not help then look into medical care. For this reason the NASI offers the CPRP program.
The CPRP Program was designed to provide cost effective, efficient and timely intervention and services for those suffering from chronic pain. Effective pain management begins with a comprehensive assessment. The assessment must be comprised of a thorough evaluation of the triphasic model of pain management, treating not only the physical but the psychological side of pain. This assessment allows the health care provider to characterize the pain, clarify its impact on your health and well being, and evaluate other related/non-related side effects/ problems resulting from the pain you are currently experiencing. The assessment determines whether additional evaluations with different medical specialist are warranted or if treatment can begin using a multidisciplinary approach to care to help alleviate your current symptoms.
Because pain is subjective, only the patient can describe it adequately. For this reason we use a variety of outcome studies which have been shown through peer-reviewed scientific literature to accurately depict the type and amount of pain that you are currently experiencing and which helps to monitor your progress in pain improvement as you navigate through the 12 week program. The assessment also requires a physical examination, orthopaedic examination, neurological examination, soft tissue examination and a review of your previous medical and social history.
Our Chronic Pain Program uses a Multidisciplinary Approach to Care allowing us to appropriately treat all phases of Chronic Pain. Chronic Pain is defined by the Biopsychosocial pain Model which encompasses the biological, psychological and social aspects of pain. Our program is designed to include treatment therapies for all three of these biopsychosocial factors using alternative therapies.
Chronic Pain Assessment
Pain Evaluation and Assessment Example: Email: Northamericanspineinstitute@gmail.com
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