Acute pain is one of the basic adaptations that most species have to warn the organism of internal or external stimuli potentially harmful to the well-being of that organism. It usually increases as the severity of the injury or disease increases, although the painful sensation may be present after the injury.
Continued stimulation also can lead to increased sensitivity, sensitization, and severe pain even to a weak, painful stimuli.
The sensitization process can take place in both the peripheral as well as the central nervous system. As the healing process takes place, acute pain tends to subside.
Chronic pain exists when pain symptoms are prolonged past the natural course of the disease process or a disease process goes over the course of many months to years.
Chronic pain serves no vital importance to the organism suffering from it, and in fact can become a detriment to the organism survival and well-being.
Multiple physiological theories include
- Sensitization both in the periphery and central nervous system
- Spontaneous activity and discharges in axons subject to injury
- Demyelination resulting from chronic irritation and development of interactions between bare neurons
- Balances between the lateral and the medial thalamus and the influences of deep-brain structures such as reticular formation, which influences emotional states of people in stress.
Emotional, social, financial, cultural, and motivational states immensely influence those who suffer from chronic pain.
The toll of chronic pain on the mental states of sufferes makes treatment of chronic pain patients difficult, at best. Treatment requires immense determination by both the patient and the providers.
Treatment plans frequently require input from multiple specialties, such as physical medicine, rehabilitation, and psychiatry, along with medical and surgical support teams.
Only when providers from these multiple teams work in unison does the likelihood of success increase.
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