Chronic pain, by definition, is pain that lasts for more than three months – although some doctors define it as more than six months. The pain doesn’t have to be non-stop. For example, I have chronic lower back pain that comes and goes and I’ve had it since my early 20s. I can be months without lower back pain only to have it return with a vengeance. But, because it is the same type of pain, it is chronic back pain.
So, what are five of the most common causes of chronic pain these days?
Back pain – without a doubt, one of the most common cause of pain in developed countries. Other than headaches, no other pain brings more people to see a doctor than lower back pain.
Some related posts:
Headaches and migraines – migraines are really in a separate class, but headaches and migraines are the most common type of chronic pain
Some related posts:
- Chronic headaches and acupuncture
- Do you get rebound headaches?
- Colors on your website may be a migraine trigger
Cancer – Cancer doesn’t always cause pain, but it often does. The pain can come from different issues arising from the disease. You can experience pain from:
- the tumor itself, pressing on nerves or organs
- swelling or inflammation
- side effects from treatment, such as difficult and painful swallowing, pain from chemotherapy, sores in the mouth, etc.
Some related posts:
Degenerative conditions – these include osteoporosis that can cause fractures from falls or from weakening bones (such as in the back) and osteoarthritis, which is often called the wear-and-tear arthritis.
Some related posts:
- Sally Field speaks out about osteoporosis
- Company’s calling – Olympic cyclist Kristin Armstrong talks about her osteoarthritis
Fibromyalgia – often in a class by itself because of the different types of chronic pain it can cause.
Some related posts:
- Maybe it is all in your head – but in a very real way
- Fibromyalgia: “Most of those people are difficult patients”
- Video: Fibromyalgia explained
This is just my attempt at finding five of the most common causes of chronic pain, but there are many, many more.
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Tags: chronic pain, pain blog, chronic pain blog, fibromyalgia pain, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, kristin armstrong, olympic cyclist kristin armstrong, cancer pain, migraines, headache
After reading your post I thought I would pass on some info. I just read a book called “A Day without Pain by an addiction doctor by the name of Mel Pohl. A very interesting read. It talks about pain, addiction to pain meds, and how the drugs make pain worse. It goes into all sorts of drug free options to manage pain without drugs. I’m gonna check out a few of them. It seems the author put up a blog with a few topics. Its new but has some pretty good topics. That’s if anybody is interested in dealing with pain without drugs. The blog is at adaywithoutpain.com. Check it out the book too.
Cheers,
Joe