Health and Psychology

Most people will have some form of pain in their lives.  There are a couple of types of pain.

Acute Pain

Acute pain begins suddenly and is usually sharp in quality. It serves as a warning of disease or a threat to the body.  It usually diappears when the cause of the pain has been treated or resolved.  Acute pain may be caused by many events or circumstances, including:

• Surgery
• Broken bones
• Dental work
• Burns or cuts
• Labor and childbirth
• Illness
• Injury

Chronic Pain

When acute pain doesn't resolve on it's own or doesn't respond to treatment, pain can become chronic.  The emotional effects of chronic pain include depression, anger, anxiety, and fear of re-injury, or recurrence of illness.  Some chronic pain starts with an injury or illness, but in other cases people have pain in the absence of any known injury or illness.

Pain Treatment

Pain can be treated in a variety of ways.

• Drug treatments such as non-prescription medications or prescription medications
• Nerve blocks (the blocking of a group of nerves with local anesthetics)
• Alternative treatments such as acupuncture, relaxation and biofeedback
• Electrical stimulation
• Physical therapy
• Exercise or conditioning
• Trigger avoidance
  
• Surgery
• Psychological counseling
• Behavior modification
• Ergonomic or body mechanics changes

In many cases a variety of treatment modalities may need to be used for maximum pain control.