What is Acute Pain vs Chronic Pain?

Acute Pain and Chronic Pain

Pain is a regular phenomenon experienced by almost every individual in daily life, whether acute or chronic. Pain is a common reason for patients to seek healthcare and to be admitted to hospitals. By understanding the nature of pain, it is possible to work with a doctor to get the necessary treatment. A good start to understanding pain is by knowing the difference between acute pain and chronic pain. Acute and chronic pain are two different entities. Acute pain is triggered by a certain disease or injury. It usually serves a useful biologic purpose. It is associated with skeletal muscle spasm and sympathetic nervous system activation and is actually self-limited. Chronicpain, on the other hand, may be considered a disease state. It refers to pain that outlasts the normal time of healing, if associated with a disease or injury. Both acute and chronic pain are an immense problem in the United States.

Acute pain is the unpleasant sensory and emotional experience arising from actual or potential tissue damage; sudden or slow onset of any intensity from mild to severe with an anticipated or predictable end and a duration of less than six  months. The unpleasant feeling of pain is highly subjective in nature that may be experienced by the patient. Acute Pain serves a protective function and makes the patient informed and knowledgeable about the presence of any injury or illness. The sudden unexpected onset of Acute Pain makes the patient seek support, assistance and relief. The physiological signs that  appear along with Acute Pain emerge from the body’s response to pain as a stressor.

Characteristics of acute pain:

• ·         Acute pain has a specific cause and could occur from tissue damage, inflammation or a disease process.
• ·         Acute pain usually lasts for up to a specific amount of time. It fades as whatever caused the pain is healed or resolved.
• ·         Acute pain has a purpose and is a cue for the body to do something to stop the pain. For example, a burn will stop you from continuing to touch a hot stove or shin splints can slow you down if you’re overtraining.
• ·         Pain due to diagnostic procedures or medical interventions and treatments.
• ·         Pain emerging from trauma.

To treat acute pain, multimodal treatment is crucial for optimizing pain relief.

·         The key elements of multimodal treatment include nerve blocks or epidurals, opioids or other analgesics, adjunctive medications, physical modalities and rehabilitation.

·         Psychosocial interventions, including distraction, meditation and deep breathing, are also central components.

·         Opioids are an essential part of therapy for acute pain. They are quite effective, particularly when used in combination with other analgesics, and are essential for both planned and unplanned severe acute pain situations.

In most cases, chronic pain starts with an acute injury or illness. If the pain of this injury or illness lasts longer than six months, it is then considered chronic pain. Sometimes, chronic pain subsequently causes complications of its own. These complications, in turn, can make the pain even worse.

Characteristics of chronic pain

·         Chronic pain may outlast the initial trigger for the pain and continue for months or even years. It doesn’t last for a specific—or predictable—amount of time. Chronic pain may be due to a disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or osteoarthritis. However, the disease activity may not be connected to pain levels. Chronic pain may have no discernible cause at all sometimes.

·         In some cases, chronic pain may signal that disease activity is increasing, which can be addressed with rest or a change in medications. Despite the mysterious and relentless nature of chronic pain, it can be treated. There are also methods to alleviate the intensity of the pain through pain management. If the cause of chronic pain is known, then the cause can be treated. For example, the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis can be managed with the use of DMARDs and biologic medications. But even if the cause of chronic pain is unknown or untreatable, the pain symptoms can be treated. Options to manage pain include:

• ·         Pain-relieving medications
• ·         Massage therapy
• ·         Talk therapy, relaxation training, visual imagery and other methods used to mentally/psychologically deal with the suffering that comes with chronic pain

·         Treatment for other health issues that commonly accompany chronic pain and may make it worse, such as depression, fatigue or sleep problems. Meanwhile research is continuing to reveal ways in which chronic pain works and the methods with which it can best be identified and treated. As a result, new solutions may be on the way soon.