Pain is classified as either acute or chronic.
Acute pain occurs and lasts less than three months. Examples include the pain of a broken bone, the pain of a heart attack, or the pain of a disc herniation. Chronic Pain lasts more than three months. Examples include disc herniation, angina associated with heart disease, and neuropathy of the feet as a result of long-standing diabetes.
We can see that the same condition, such as disc herniation or knee pain, can be short-lived and acute or long-term and chronic. Because the definition, based solely on time, is somewhat arbitrary, it doesn’t in any way indicate the level of tissue damage or ongoing injury, or the intensity of suffering. These designations do, however, play a large role in determining the appropriate pain treatment or avenue to pain relief.
Somatic Pain versus Neuropathic Pain
Pain is also categorized by the type of nerve receptors being stimulated, i.e., somatic pain and neuropathic pain. At its most basic level, somatic pain is pain of musculoskeletal origin. This is the chronic or acute pain of a pulled muscle that we describe as achy, sharp, or stabbing. It may radiate in a predictable fashion. Very often, in the acute phase it is associated with swelling, redness, and warmth at the site of injury, and it hurts to use the affected body part.
Contrast this with neuropathic pain, which is described as burning, tingling, or an electric shock. Neuropathic pain can occur in many different conditions and the signs and symptoms will also vary. For example, patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS), or traumatic brain injury (TBI) may have a completely normal appearing arm or leg, but they may describe a constant, ongoing burning.
Other patients may have an isolated injury to a nerve and describe a burning-type sensation in a localized area, associated with sensitivity to even a light touch, water contact, or a light breeze blowing across the body part. This type of pain may wake you from a sound sleep or prevent you from even getting to sleep. Common examples include a herniated disc in the back that compresses a nerve or carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist.
Do You Have Acute Pain or Chronic Pain?
