Persistent pain

Many of you may have been diagnosed with chronic or persistent pain? What does this even mean? Long term pain to deal with forever?

Persistent pain is complex. What we know from the current research is that persistent pain has more to do with the nervous system and less to do with actual tissue damage.

So, I can have pain and there is no structural damage? Yes. It sounds hard to believe but often the tissues heal and you continue to experience pain. In fact, soft tissue injuries generally heal within 6-12 weeks. All pain, whether acute or chronic, is made by the nervous system. Without a nervous system we would never experience pain. With persistent pain, changes occur in the nervous system and it becomes more sensitized.

This is normal right after an injury. For example, when we roll our ankle, it’s painful put weight on it, move and even touch. This is the bodies normal mechanism to protect us and stopping us from doing even more damage. It’s helpful in the short term but when the nervous system remains sensitized months after an injury, it is not so beneficial.

Although we do not know everything about persistent pain, research has shown that many factors can contribute to the pain persisting. Some of the factors include stress, low mood, anxiety, lack of sleep, fear, beliefs and isolation. You might think that many of these factors are psychological, or “in your head”, and could not possibly affect your pain. However, although many of the above are indeed psychological factors, subconsciously they are a major contributor to the nervous system becoming more sensitized and therefore generating more pain.  

There are specific steps you can take to overcome your pain and live better.  Speak with a pain physiotherapist to get the ball rolling.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I welcome all feedback or questions.

Nichola O’Ceallaigh

Physiotherapist