Chronic Pain Treatment

The exact causes of chronic pain are not well understood, but research suggests that some people with chronic pain may have an altered response to the nerve’s “pain signals”.

For others, there is a clear injury or physical problem, such as arthritis or back problems that don’t go away; it’s just waiting to be discovered. Sometimes these two types of chronic pain coexist.

When the cause is a hidden injury or disease process, diagnosing and treating the problem before it progresses can help relieve the pain. But for many people who suffer from chronic pain for which there seems to be no cause at all – either they do not experience any relief in their symptoms during diagnosis, or they may have been diagnosed with incorrectly.

We don’t know the exact answer to this question, but we have a lot of evidence that it isn’t your fault. Changes in brain chemicals like serotonin or dopamine may play a part in depression. Alcoholism and drug abuse can also change levels of these chemicals which might cause depression.

It’s also possible that stress hormones at work or home are causing someone to feel depressed since high levels of stress hormones release cortisol into the body which interferes with memory recall, immune system function as well as reducing feelings of pleasure and leading to sleep disturbances. Trauma experienced during childhood could raise lifelong risks for experiencing depression later on in life as well.

One telltale sign that chronic pain is a problem for you is if the intensity and frequency of your pain have increased, even though you’re doing everything in your power to reduce it.

For example, it might take over-the-counter drugs to relieve your pains during periods when they used to be relieved by ibuprofen. Another clue could be when irritants (e.g., weather conditions or foods) trigger additional reactions in you that seem unrelated to the original issue (e.g., an oversensitive cough following consumption of dairy).

Chronic pain can also lead people into negative thought patterns such as guilt, depression, anger, or bitterness; this is especially true if they don’t have adequate support systems in place.