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[New York Pain Management] What Causes Ongoing Chronic Pain? Let's Take A Look

Updated: Jun 5, 2023


chronic pain management

Have you ever asked yourself what causes your chronic pain? Chronic pain can be one of the most difficult health problems to live with and is a very demanding experience that can hold a person captive for years. Unfortunately, sometimes life forces us to suffer from pain, and it's important for understanding chronic pain to know that this type of pain should not be ignored.


If you have chronic pain, you may not be living as actively as before your pain started. You may even start to put a lot of blame on others for your situation. Fortunately, our New York pain management specialists are experienced and knowledgeable to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of chronic pain and offer effective treatments that address these distressing problems.


This blog will outline the five most common pain-causing conditions associated with chronic pain. So what causes ongoing chronic pain? How do you prevent it from happening again? And what should you do if it does come back? Keep reading to find out.


1. Overuse

Chronic pain is a constant companion for many people, and it's often hard to pinpoint the exact cause. The pain may be caused by an injury or disease, but sometimes the source of the problem isn't clear. If you're using a joint too much, it can also cause pain.


Chronic pain is often caused by overuse of the body part involved in the pain. This could mean using your back too much, lifting heavy objects incorrectly, or working out too hard without warming up properly. If you are in pain, it's important not to overuse your body parts until they heal completely. Overuse can cause more damage to the injured area, which can lead to more pain later on down the road!


chronic pain

An overuse injury is an injury that occurs when the body is stressed beyond its normal limits. Overuse injuries are generally caused by repetitive motions, such as running or walking. These injuries can be extremely painful and debilitating.


The most common form of overuse injury occurs in sports when athletes injure themselves because they have taken part in an activity that puts too much strain on their joints and muscles. For example, runners often develop knee problems because they run so much every day.


If you've been playing basketball three times a week for years and now all of a sudden decide to play five times per week, your knees might start hurting after a while. The same thing happens if you start running every day after spending years only walking around on your feet.


If you have an overuse injury, there are steps you can take to get back to your normal life. Stop doing anything that hurts until your pain subsides or gets better. And if you continue to do what causes pain, it will only get worse. It's important to seek help from a pain specialist. They may recommend physical therapy to help with the pain.


2. Underuse

Chronic pain often leads people to underuse themselves because they don't want to feel any more pain than they already do in their lives at this point. But this isn't good either because when we underuse ourselves, we start hurting even more than before because our bodies become weak from lack of activity over time due to disuse.


If you aren't using your joints, they aren't getting stronger. If they're not getting stronger, they can't handle the load of daily activity. When you go back to using your joint, it's like trying to lift a weight that you haven't worked out with in a long time. You'll probably hurt yourself.


The good news is that there are many treatment options to reduce chronic pain and improve your quality of life. There are also some things that you should avoid doing when dealing with chronic pain so as not to make the problem worse.


3. Stress

Stress is one of the most common triggers of chronic pain. It's estimated that up to 80% of people with chronic pain have stress-related symptoms — and the more stress you feel, the more likely you are to experience pain. Stress can make the pain worse, so it's important to find ways to manage it. You may also want to try meditation, yoga, or some other relaxation technique.


The good news is that there are many treatment options available for chronic pain. The first step is identifying what type of treatment would be best for your situation and then finding a pain doctor who specializes in treating chronic pain patients with targeted treatment approach.


4. Injury

Pain can be brought on by an injury. The pain may be sharp and immediate or may not be noticed until hours later. Sometimes, the pain is felt in one area of the body, but it also affects other areas. For example, a twisted ankle might cause pain in the knee as well as in the ankle itself.


chronic pain after a sport injury

Likewise, a sprained wrist may affect muscles in your forearm as well as muscles in your hand. If you have pain from an injury, it's important to see a pain doctor right away so that they can determine whether you need treatment or just rest for a day or two.


If you have chronic pain, and there's no specific injury that caused it, but there may be some kind of underlying condition that is causing your discomfort. For example, if you've started having back spasms after lifting weights at the gym, it's likely that something else is going on besides just muscle strain. As a result, your doctor will probably recommend physical therapy to help stretch out your back muscles and teach you how to lift weights properly so that they don't get strained again.


5. Nervous System Dysfunction

The nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, which carry messages between your body parts, so your brain knows what state they're in (whether you're hot or cold, or hungry). The nervous system controls everything from our heart rate to our ability to walk.


Nerve signals travel through long nerve fibers called axons that stretch across your body like telephone lines carrying information back and forth between cells. When something goes wrong with this system, it can cause many different symptoms, including pain, numbness, and tingling sensations in the body. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, then it's possible that your condition may be causing some form of nervous system dysfunction.


Chronic Pain Management

For most of us, the little aches and pains we experience on a day-to-day basis can be quickly forgotten. But chronic pain is pain that lasts for more than six months. Whether it is caused by injury or sustained over time, chronic pain has an effect not only on your body but also on your mind.


Chronic pain can be debilitating, but it doesn't have to be life-changing. It's unclear what causes ongoing chronic pain or why some people develop it, and others don't. However, there are many ways for those with existing pain to cope with it.


If you're experiencing ongoing chronic pain, there are steps you can take to prevent it from getting worse, and there are therapies you can try to alleviate it. Be sure to talk with our New York pain management specialists about your treatment options. The sooner you start helping yourself by talking about your condition and getting a diagnosis, the easier it is to develop a plan of action to relieve your pain.

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