Chronic pain, contrary to the acute form, is pain that, despite some fluctuation in intensity, doesn’t go away with time. Mayo Clinic Health Letter explains, “It (chronic pain) can affect a specific area, such as with back pain, headaches or facial pain, or it can be more widespread, such as with fibromyalgia — a disorder that causes pain throughout the body.”
But why and how does pain hurt? It helps for you to understand that pain involves a complex interaction between your nervous system – the spinal cord, the brain, specialized nerves – and the rest of your body. Mayo Clinic puts it this way: “It’s a traffic system with many interacting parts and many variables that determine how you feel.” For both kinds of pain (chronic and acute), the pain begins when certain nerves are stimulated. And, of course, as you well may already know, pain is your body’s way of alerting you to the fact that something has gone seriously wrong, and that danger can be found somewhere within your body’s highly complicated network of nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and skeletal systems. The nerve cells that answer to pain are referred to as peripheral nerve cells. This peripheral nervous system (NOT including your brain and spinal cord) consists of these nerve cells that, according to Mayo, “Align in a network of fibers that carry messages from skin, muscles, and internal organs TO your spinal cord and brain. The messages take the form of electrical currents and chemical interactions.” The peripheral nervous system then acts as a kind of communication relay.
Have you noticed that pain is definitely an individual perception?
When soliciting responses as to the pain involved in their recent knee surgeries, individuals’ comments can run the gamut from “It was a piece of cake” to “It was a living hell.” In other words, an impulse that causes you heavy, lingering pain might be only a minor disturbance to another person. The cause of the pain determines largely on how you feel and respond to the pain. But individual traits, as well as psychological, emotional, and social factors also come into play here. Mayo Clinic puts it this way: “When pain messages reach your brain, they pass through the emotional and cognitive regions, as well as the physical sensation region. Pain truly is in your head as well as your body.”
Here are Mayo Clinic’s six factors that determine your sensitivity to pain and how you might respond to pain:
1. Genetics – Your genes definitely should be considered to help determine and understand your pain threshold or pain tolerance. Genetics also plays a role in influencing your response to meds used for pain control.
2. Sex – Chronic pain sometimes is perceived differently by males and females. This might be affected by biological or psychological differences or social factors.
3. Long-term health problems – Fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, and many other chronic illnesses and conditions are associated with pain.
4. Psychological factors – People who suffer from anxiety, low-self-esteem, or depression are found to have more episodes of pain. “Catastrophizing pain” can make it feel worse.
5. Social factors – Social isolation and stress add to the stronger feeling of pain. Research programs have suggested that a lower education level and lower income, as well as unemployment, can lead to stronger perceptions of pain.
6. Other individual factors – The way you were taught coping skills and general attitude within your family unit can affect how you interpret and handle pain. Also included here are your expectations of how you think you should feel or react to varying pain messages.
