What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic or persistent pain, is pain that has lasted longer than three months. Acute pain from an injury generally resolves within a few weeks, whereas chronic pain persists beyond this, or sometimes without an initial injury or physical trauma.
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Pain science has evolved a lot over the past few years and it is now widely accepted that pain is processed in the brain, not at the site of injury or soreness. This is where I think the confusion arises when people feel they have been told that their "pain is in my head". Pain is a physiological response which is processed by the brain just as other countless bodily functions are it is not a conscious act.
The brain interprets the level of danger and decides whether to make something hurt. However, the hurt doesn't always match the injury, for example the stories where people have significant injuries on a battlefield, but don't feel any pain.
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This is a great short video about pain
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The good news is that understanding why you are in pain and using self help strategies can really help chronic pain. These may be making small changes to parts of your lifestyle such as sleep, movement and stress levels. Each persons pain is unique and there might be different triggers and I can help guide you through these and provide support where needed.
Chronic Pain in Women's Health
Women are more likely to experience chronic pain than men, although the mechanisms of this are still not fully understood. It is well documented that women have a higher prevalence of conditions that may produce chronic pain such as fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.
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They may also have unique pelvic health conditions which can cause chronic pain such as endometriosis and dysmenorrhea.