About Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for more than three months, or in many cases, beyond normal healing time. Chronic pain is sometimes also called persistent pain. It is different from acute pain, such as pain from an injury, which develops quickly and doesn’t usually last for long.

What causes Chronic Pain?

Normally, if you have an injury, nerves carry signals from the injured part of your body to the brain, telling the brain that there’s a problem. The brain reads these signals as pain. Chronic pain can be the result of injury or surgery.

When someone has chronic pain, the nerves that carry pain signals to the brain, or the brain itself, behave in an unusual way. The nerves might be more sensitive than usual, or the brain might misread other signals as pain.

Acute pain can develop into a chronic pain condition if it’s not treated, or if the acute pain is poorly treated. The longer pain remains untreated, the greater the risk of pain becoming chronic.

What are the most common types of Chronic Pain?

Arthritis pain
Nerve pain
Cancer pain
Fibromyalgia
Headaches & migraines
Back & Neck pain

How can we help you manage Chronic Pain?

We offer the following services:

Support groups
Lower cost allied health services
Self-management courses
Education seminars
Counselling
Art therapy
Individualised one-on-one assistance

What are the categories of Chronic Pain?

Nociceptive Pain which is caused by pain from tissue damage, including:

Musculoskeletal pain: arthritis, fibromyalgia
Somatic pain: injury to skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments
Visceral pain: pain originating from internal organs

Neuropathic Pain occurs when the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves) itself is damaged or malfunctioning. Such as:

Peripheral Neuropathic Pain (pain from nerve compression, diabetic neuropathy, neuralgia post shingles)
Central Neuropathic Pain (damage to the brain or spinal chord)

Other Pain:

Inflammatory Pain
Psychogenic Pain
Cancer Pain
Post-surgical Pain

How is Chronic Pain managed?

For many people, chronic pain cannot be cured.

Your health care team can develop a pain management plan that aims to prevent pain from interfering with your daily life.

Staying active, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, taking medicines wisely, looking after your mental health, setting goals, pacing yourself and working with your health care team can help you get back to socialising, working and being active.