Acute Pain VS Chronic Pain

Chronic vs Acute: Who's Got it Worse?

Pain, as unpleasant as it is, is a necessary part of the human experience. From muscle soreness after a rigorous workout, to something as violent as a gunshot wound, different types of pain exist on different levels. Most of the time, it’s just something fleeting: a pinch, a bee sting. Sometimes, however, the pain lasts much longer, and is even recurring, as in the cases of migraines or cysts. Is there a timer that certain types of pain have, indicating how long it will last? What’s going on?

The answer isn’t so complicated. While different pains have different reactions, and stimulate different nerves, there are actually two different types of pain: chronic pain, and acute pain.

Acute pain for the most part is easy. It's minor. It’s the bee sting you got when you went hiking at your local Michigan stat park. It’s that flash of sharpness when you accidentally cut yourself with a kitchen knife. The thing to note about it is that, most of the time, it’s temporary. This type of pain is easy to relieve: an ice pack, some antiseptic, or an over-the-counter medication or even a home remedy can soothe that flare-up almost as quickly as it hit you. However, acute pain, while still fleeting, can come in waves. Still have pain from spraining your ankle a month ago? It’s acute. Shoulders sore from lifting too much weight at your local Powerhouse Gym? You guessed it: acute pain! This type of pain typically lasts no longer than six months, and in most cases, far less than that.

Any type of pain which outlasts a six-month time frame has the possibility of being chronic. Severe, intense pain, at times, feels the same as the other, but the differences are stark and obvious. While your tension headache will likely melt away within the hour thanks to your handy bottle of Tylenol, your colleague who suffers chronic migraines probably won’t be nearly as lucky. While you’re back on your feet in no time at all, your colleague has increased sensitivity to light, sound, touch, and smell. The pain may also be centralized in their head, but their headache is accompanied by potential vomiting. What’s worse is the fact that, once a migraine is on its way, it has to be caught early. If not, the sufferer will have to deal with potentially all of these symptoms – and more.

And this won’t even be the first time.

Chronic pain is best defined as pain that recurs in the body. Regardless of whether the pain occurs due to an injury or naturally, if it continues to persist outside of a six month time frame, you may be suffering from this type of pain. This pain interferes in the sufferer’s life, decreasing their quality of it, in many ways: mood-wise, they may become despondent, depressed, or lethargic. After all, it’s difficult to move, or to want to move, if you know it’s only going to hurt. Physically, they may suffer from headaches, or back pain. Arthritis is a common type of this pain, and cancer patients, former and current, are known to suffer it as well.

While, when suffering from a minor pain, it’s easy enough to get the care you need so the pain leaves you as quickly as possible, sufferers of intense pain don’t often have such a luxury. Over-the-counter medications and treatments may work for them: they may not. While someone may swear by aromatherapy for their headaches, someone with migraines may try it and find the scents too overbearing to be of any help. Unfortunately, while doctors seem to have the answers for most kinds of ailments, more serious pain may elude them. For diseases such as arthritis, or even phantom pains, there may be no known cure. If there is, even still, the doctor may be unfamiliar with treatment options, or the disease itself. Many sufferers of this type of pain are familiar with the cycle of going to the doctor and receiving a cocktail of pills, some new, some old, some taken away. And the best part is, they have no idea if the pills are even going to work. If they do, fantastic! If they don’t, it’s only a repeat of the cycle, and they still have to live with their pain, while their quality of life continues to crumble.

Luckily, as medicine progresses, so do the treatment options for sufferers of severe pain. Over-the-counter medications still exist, as do prescriptions. Some pain doctors offer anesthetic, shot into where the pain is localized in an attempt to ease it. Physical therapy and electrical stimulation are both suggested, as is talk therapy in order for the sufferer to sort through their emotions regarding their pain. For those who typically gravitate toward more homeopathic remedies, acupuncture is also widely reputed to help with severe pain.

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