Pain is nearly always thought of as a warning signal of possible injury. Some consider it to be a natural reflex forcing stillness in an already injured organ so as to promote healing and recuperation. This makes it easier to understand acute pain. But it does not explain the body’s need for the pain of such chronic conditions as XLPharmacy.com rheumatoid arthritis, cancer or trigeminal neuralgia (spasms of excruciating pain caused by the malfunctioning of the fifth cranial nerve which has three branches supplying the skin of the face, the tongue and the teeth). With such conditions, you neither escape pain nor alleviate it with stillness.
Difference between chronic and acute pain
There is an important distinction between chronic and acute pain. Chronic pain is pain that persists for six months or more without any valid cause. Acute pain is sudden and usually brief and most commonly caused by an accident, or ‘trauma’, resulting in localised tissue damage in the neuromuscular-skeletal system. Irritation of the internal organs, known as a visceral condition, can also cause acute pain. Acute pain is often easily resolved if diagnosed and treated early and comprehensively. However it can become chronic if the treatment consists solely of pain medication.
Starting comprehensive treatment early in the acute phase can prevent the development of chronic pain. By comparison, chronic pain lasts from six weeks to many months or even years. It is often associated with a prolonging of the responses of the automatic nervous system.
