Understanding Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a disease in itself and eventually becomes complex if it is left untreated. Chronic pain is pain that persists after the body should have healed, usually about three months. Over a period of time it involves almost every system of the body and thereby treatment becomes very complex. You get into doctor shopping and really you go nowhere. This is unlike acute pain which is generally simple to treat and tends to fade away as you begin to feel better.

Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon and may not be easy to treat, especially with analgesia alone. In involves patients’ participation, motivation and positive attitude.

Nonspecific Abdominal & Pelvic Pain

The term Chronic Nonspecific Abdominal and Pelvic Pain refers to an abdominal or pelvic pain of more than 3 months duration for which the diagnosis remains uncertain after extensive clinical examination and baseline investigations. Clearly, it must not be accompanied by signs of serious underlying pathology and any obvious clinical presentations requiring urgent intervention.

Nonspecific Back Pain

Non-specific low back pain affects people of all ages and is a leading contributor to disease burden worldwide, often requiring extensive diagnostic work-up and multiple specialist referral. Because of its non-specific nature, treatment focuses on reducing pain and its consequences. It mainly consists of education and reassurance, less analgesic medicines, non-pharmacological therapies and timely review. The clinical course of such pain if untreated could be detrimental. The overuse of imaging, unnecessary surgery and opioid abuse will contribute to accumulated problems.

Nonspecific Facial Pain and Headache

Non-specific facial pain or Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain (PIFP) is an unhelpful diagnosis but one that does not fit into any classification system. Due to the site of the pain, patients may seek and indeed, receive treatment from dental practitioners and specialists, but the pain is often unresponsive and may have more in common with unexplained medical symptoms mostly psychological. Such condition demands a multidisciplinary approach for diagnosis and management.