What is the difference between acute and chronic pain?
Acute pain is of short duration, usually the result of an injury, surgery or illness. Chronic pain is an ongoing condition, often in the back, neck, head, as wells as neuropathic pain (nerve injury pain), musculoskeletal pain, and pain related to illness. Your physician may refer you to the Pain Management Center because your chronic pain condition has not responded to conventional therapies. Treatments for acute and chronic pain are generally quite different. In some cases, acute and chronic pain can be stopped or alleviated by a single procedure or series of procedures. Sometimes, chronic pain is part of a widespread disease process, and the specific cause may be difficult to pinpoint. Once we have identified the specific factor causing the pain, we may be able to treat it so that the condition no longer occurs. In some patients, the specific factor causing the pain–such as cancer–cannot be changed, but we may be able to reduce the pain or help the patient to better cope with the p
