Chronic Back Pain

Chronic Pain Throughout the United States

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Chronic pain is pain that does not stop and persists for weeks, months, and years. It also describes pain that continues long after the injury that caused the pain has healed. It affects millions of people with debilitating side-effects that can range from low-self esteem, depression, anger. Chronic pain costs over $600 billion each year. Pain is subjective and is different for everyone. Regardless of how severe it is, pain that goes on for a long period can be crippling. The United States population reports having more pain than people in other countries. One in three Americans says that they experience pain often and very often. There are individuals that experience severe pain every day.  

Definition

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as:
“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” IASP Terminology
For the layman, pain is a highly discomforting experience. It can be brought on from an injury or could be the brain is having problems processing pain signals correctly. Pain can vary in its:
  • Severity
  • Time/s when it presents
  • Location
  • Involvement of other areas of the body
Pain could be limited to where the injury occurred, but pain could affect the whole body. Terms to describe pain include:
  • Aching
  • Burning
  • Cramping
  • Dull
  • Electric
  • Intense
  • Sharp
  • Shooting
  • Stabbing

Causes

What causes chronic pain is not always clear and can be challenging to diagnose the root cause. There are possibilities like:
  • Injury – Even after an injury has healed, the nerves can still send pain signals to the brain. Medical experts are unsure why this happens.
  • Disease – There are conditions that can cause chronic pain. Fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, headaches, and shingles are a few examples.
  • Nerve issues/problems – the nerves of the nervous system can be injured themselves. This type is known as neuropathic pain.
  • Unknown/Other – Pain can develop, even with no obvious injury, disease, or nerve problem.
Chronic pain is biological. As nerve impulses keep signaling to the brain. This combined with social and psychological factors can impact an individual’s treatment and health. An example is having negative emotion/s like anxiety. Emotions like this have a tendency to aggravate and exacerbate chronic pain.  
  Those who just think about their pain and discomfort seem to have greater disability than those who try to work through it and stay positive. It’s the same with work-related injuries in the United States, where those who don’t like their jobs have a much more difficult time recovering compared with those who like their jobs. This is why the referral of a psychologist could be part of the treatment plan. A psychologist can educate a patient on how to use various relaxation techniques/tools. This can help them see and understand their pain and learn how to best combat the pain.

Living with chronic pain in the United States

Life changes are an essential part of effective treatment for chronic pain. Proper regular sleep is a must, as the body needs to heal itself and during the sleep cycle is when it happens. Living with chronic pain is a very challenging and difficult task. Taking care of yourself is the main objective. Proper sleep, a healthy diet, moderate exercise, stress management, and proper treatment will get an individual back to as normal a life as possible with chronic pain. The aim for individuals is to figure out/learn everything they can about what is causing the pain. Understand the limits and work within them. Keep an open mind and try new ways to manage the pain. Research scientists believe that major advances in neuro medicine will generate more and better treatments for chronic pain.

Chronic pain and depression

 
 

Dr. Alex Jimenez’s Blog Post Disclaimer

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, and sensitive health issues and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate and support directly or indirectly our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation as to how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. The provider(s) Licensed in Texas& New Mexico*
Post Disclaimer

Professional Scope of Practice *

The information herein on "Chronic Pain Throughout the United States" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

Blog Information & Scope Discussions

Our information scope is limited to Chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somatovisceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.

We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.*

Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.

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Blessings

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN*, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License # TX5807, New Mexico DC License # NM-DC2182

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