Around 100 million Americans currently suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than six months, and can be mild to excruciating, episodic or constant, slightly inconvenient to debilitating. It can stem from an initial trauma, injury, or infection and anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue are huge factors that have the ability worsen chronic pain. With chronic pain, signals of pain tend to remain active in the nervous system for months or possibly even years and can take a large toll on the body.
Most Common Sources of Chronic Pain
- Headaches
- Joint pain
- Pain from injury
- Backaches
- Tendinitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sinus pain
Some Symptoms of Chronic Pain Include
- Shooting, aching, burning pain
- Fatigue
- Sleeplessness
- Withdrawal from activity
- Weakened Immune system
- Changes in mood
- Mild to severe pain that does not go away
- Feeling stiff, uncomfortable, or sore
Prevention
There are a few ways to prevent some types of chronic pain that are not caused by a type of injury or accident, a few include:
- Proper posture
- Lifting heavy items properly
- Sleep on a good quality mattress
- Wearing high heels