What is Chronic Pain?

According to Chronic Pain Australia, Chronic pain affects over 3.6 million Australians and is the leading cause of disability.

What is Chronic pain?

Chronic pain is also referred to as persistent pain is pain that lasts for more than 3 months, or in many cases, beyond normal healing time. This is however different from acute pain, such as pain from an injury, which develops quickly and doesn't usually linger on for long.

Chronic pain is a complex condition, and its experience varies from person to person. The pain can range from mild to severe and is experienced on most days.

Many people who live with chronic pain can be led to believe that the “pain is all in their head”. This is not true! All Pain is real. Chronic pain is a condition which makes changes to the nervous system and the way it perceives pain. Usually, pain serves a short-term protective function that resolves with healing. However, when pain persists for three or more months, it changes into a condition that not only has no benefit, but impacts a person’s ability to work, move, sleep, enjoy social or family time and can cause emotional distress. Anxiety and depression are also seen commonly in Australian adults suffering from Chronic pain.

People with chronic pain who adopt active management, tends to do better than those who rely on passive therapies such as medication or surgery. Most people benefit from a range of treatments and self-management strategies, including:

- seeing a psychologist

- seeing a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist

- activity pacing

- relaxation techniques

- Active exercise such as walking, swimming, cycling

- improving your sleep