“Chronic Pain Disorders”
Most of the time, pain subsides over time – with medication or other treatment. Chronic pain on the other hand, is categorized as a long-term pain that persists beyond the usual recovery time – or occurs due to, or alongside, a chronic illness or health condition. Sometimes it can occur without any known trigger as well. Furthermore, here is a brief overview of 8 different types of chronic pain disorders.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is one of the most life-changing and persistent silent diseases. As a person begins to experience some of the more unpleasant effects of the disease, they will likely face challenges that test the strength of relationships and even their resolve to complete goals. It should be noted that in order to face the uncertainty of these situations, any person suffering from Fibromyalgia should educate themselves as much as possible so that they can avail themselves of as many viable options as possible.
What it is
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that has recently been found to be a relatively common phenomenon. Symptoms often come and go – most often leaving the person suffering confused, disoriented, and frustrated. In addition, it is also often accompanied by various types of inflammation.
Causes
To date, there are no known causes for this disorder, but doctors have theories that it may be caused by an overabundance of stress or a problem with how pain information is delivered to the brain, yet others think that it could be caused by some kind of malformation of nerve endings.
Symptoms
Fibromyalgia is generally characterized by pain in the limbs, tenderness in different parts of the body, soreness and inflammation of the joints, inflammation of the bowels, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Anxiety and depression are likely a normal outcome of being faced with the possibility of having a portion of your day disrupted by pain and soreness. On the positive end, Fibromyalgia doesn’t have the ability to cause permanent damage to the areas that it affects, so once the symptoms have ended, you may experience a period of relief in that area.
Treatment
The treatment for fibromyalgia isn’t about curing it but instead about controlling the pain. This often includes taking pain relief medications, attending therapy to handle the emotional impact, and changing your diet.
Natural Remedies
Anti-inflammatory foods should be a part of a sufferer’s diet. Fruits and vegetables like blueberries, celery, spinach, and other leafy greens should be consumed regularly. These can help to combat inflammation and make the disease less difficult to cope with.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that is shrouded in mystery, as well as frustration for those that study its effects. At this time, Multiple Sclerosis is classified as an immune-mediated disease. This is because researchers haven’t yet discovered the exact agent that is the target of these microscopic attacks. Hopefully, in the near future, doctors will be able to see what causes this debilitating disease, and work out a cure for the many millions of people it currently affects.
What It Is
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that causes damage or disruption in the coating that protects and helps nerve cells to function. This typically affects very important nerve cells in the spinal column and the brain. This makes the disease somewhat dangerous, yet, only a small number of people with the disease will experience fatal effects. MS generally makes its presence known between the ages of 20 – 40, and primarily affects women.
Causes
At the present time, science has still been unable to uncover the mechanism of multiple sclerosis. Theories that have been proposed include the belief that it is a genetic disposition to the disease that is triggered by some outside factor, but further study is needed.
Symptoms
Multiple Sclerosis can begin to manifest in many different ways depending on the point at which the disease has begun an attack. A person with symptoms might experience blurry vision, incontinence, fatigue, slurred speech, tremors, and muscle spasms. If the disease set in to attack a portion of the brain or spine that controls vital function, it could be possible for it to end in death.
Treatment
Multiple sclerosis treatment simply relies on managing the side effects and symptoms, including pain management.
Natural Remedies
Given that Multiple Sclerosis isn’t entirely understood, there aren’t a lot of things that can be done to help a person who is suffering from the disease. One positive thing is that the disease will often go into remission or a period where it doesn’t progress.
Chronic Headaches
There’s nothing worse than a sudden and painful headache. Sometimes these pains can take you by complete surprise, leaving you wondering what you did to deserve such an unpleasant experience. Although there can be a wide variety of factors that cause or play into these headaches, but the one thing for certain is the dreaded stress that comes from hoping that they don’t return. Luckily, there are a few options that you can consider, and with a small amount of research, you may find an answer that works best for you.
What It Is
In order to be diagnosed with chronic headaches, you have them for 15 days out of the month for at least 3 months. This can easily manifest in a person who suffers from headaches becoming accustomed to repeatedly taking maximum doses of over-the-counter drugs to manage their pain.
Causes
The causes of chronic headaches can be quite varied, but a few of the causes can be: various types of inflammation of tissues like veins and arteries near the brain, past head trauma, tumors, and blood clots. Tension headaches are also a common form of chronic headaches.
Symptoms
The primary symptoms of a chronic headache are pain in the left and/or right sides of the head. This pain will persist but are unlikely to get bad enough to incapacitate you. Sensitivity to light or sound is often another common symptom. This could particularly mean that bright lights or loud music could intensify the pain.
Treatment
For chronic headaches, your doctor will likely want to run some tests to figure out what, if anything, is causing the seemingly constant pain. The cause of headaches is typically what helps with treatment – since the reasons can vary. However, if no distinct cause is found, treatment revolves around relieving the pain to give you a better quality of life – sometimes with the use of medications.
Natural Remedies
If your pain is caused by a simple vascular issue, then eating foods with vasodilator properties could be a good answer for you. Foods with Omega 3 fatty acids like tuna and unsaturated fats like those found in avocado are a great way to improve your cardiovascular health. It is always a good idea to see a doctor when life-threatening ailments are a possibility.
Arthritis
One of the more common types of chronic pain disorders is arthritis, which causes soreness and aching in the joints. Some people have arthritis only in particular areas of the body, while others have it throughout all their joints. Arthritis is a type of inflammation that affects joints and bones and can be extremely common as a person reaches 60 years of age and older. One great thing, however, is that the widespread nature of this disease means that there are a variety of effective treatments available to try and that new research is being done every day to help improve the quality of life for people.
What It Is
Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints anywhere in the body, especially if it continues for longer than 6 weeks. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Causes
Arthritis is most often caused by major changes in cartilage, which is the soft tissue between bones that allows your joints to bend. In the case of Osteoarthritis, it is ususally caused by daily, repetitive movements. However, exact triggering event that causes rheumatoid arthritis is not yet understood.
Symptoms
The primary symptoms of arthritis are joint soreness, joint stiffness, and heavy inflammation. It also affects the eyes and skin by causing dryness, and redness. Inflammation can spread to other areas like the skin and even the veins and arteries. You may also experience dryness of the mouth and anemia.
Treatment
For arthritis, you want to focus on reducing the inflammation in your body, as this is what causes the pain in your joints. This may include gentle exercise, specific stretches, pain relievers, anti-inflammatory medications, and changing your diet.
Natural Remedies
Most remedies that exist will focus on bringing down or reducing inflammation. This can be done by eating anti-inflammatory foods that are high in vitamins and minerals, as well as high in Omega 3 fatty acids like albacore tuna, avocado, and other healthy fat sources.
Chronic Migraines
People all over the world suffer from some form of chronic migraine or another. Migraines have different symptoms that are not always associated with chronic pain and can range from benign to the most incapacitating of pain experiences a person will ever experience. As more research is done, science has uncovered an extensive list of causes of migraines.
What It Is
Chronic Migraines are characterized by heavy, painful pulsing in the head region. This normally appears only on one side of the head and can last for hours and even days. A person who suffers from this condition for more than 15 days a month for 3 months is said to be a chronic migraine sufferer.
Causes
Currently, the causes of migraines aren’t yet understood. Some doctors claim that it is possibly originated as a vascular issue, but more study is needed to make a determination. Other theories include nervous system damage, vascular anomalies, hereditary predisposition, and chemical imbalances. At times, these symptoms could even be a sign of a far more serious condition that might need serious medical attention like tumors, meningitis, and other infections.
Symptoms
Migraines tend to have a grouping of symptoms that often involve many other parts of the body, vision, and even the stomach. This can include: vomiting, blurry vision, -heavy pounding or pulsing on one side of the head – believed to be the site of the affected area.
Treatment
People with chronic migraines don’t typically have a simple treatment available. Medications are often at the top of the list to relieve migraines and keep more from coming in the future.
Natural Remedies
Cognitive behavioral therapy can help to treat migraines as well as a healthy diet, and exercise. One new practice is of administering Onabotulinumtoxina, the agent used in Botox. Clinical tests have also shown good results with patients taking higher doses of vitamin B12 and ingesting vitamin-rich foods.
Shingles
It’s been stated that anyone who has had chickenpox is very likely to get shingles. For most people, however, shingles usually doesn’t appear until they are at least 60 years of age or more. When trying to fight this disease, it may be common to experience a good amount of discomfort that is caused by a burning sensation emanating from a central point – usually undetectable by the eye. Fortunately, there is a good amount of information about shingles and what you can do to be able to deal with them.
What It Is
Shingles or Zoster is a virus that infects most people in childhood in the form of chickenpox. This virus has the ability to lay dormant in the nerve endings for years until the immune system of the host is either weakened or compromised by other illnesses.
Causes
Once a person reaches a later age, usually around 60 years and over, the virus can be reactivated and become active – resulting in an outbreak. In some cases, people dealing with excessive stress, poor lifestyle habits, and weakened immune systems (resulting from Immune deficiency diseases) can lead to an outbreak of shingles.
Symptoms
Some common symptoms that can indicate that you may now be experiencing shingles can include painful blisters, burning sensations, bands of pain often accompanied by blistering, headaches, and rashes.
Treatment
There isn’t much you can do about shingles aside from taking medications to relieve the pain or trying natural remedies to ease the discomfort.
Natural Remedies
Foods high in vitamins A, B, C, and E are good for shingles and can reduce their effects. You can also pick up a bottle of the amino acid Lysine to help fight off some symptoms. Avoiding high amounts of sugar and arginine-rich foods can make it difficult for the virus to make its symptoms known. Be sure to keep any area with symptoms clean, and avoid using hot water. Following a bath with baking soda and cornstarch paste can alleviate a lot of the itching and burning in the meantime.
Neuropathy
The nerves of the body are responsible for carrying much of the sensory information from the location of the event to your brain. These pathways also serve to report information about a lot of other very important functions of the body. When these signals have difficulty reaching the desired destination, this can result in a few different types of health issues, most commonly, it manifests in the form of pain. For some people with this condition, the pain can remain at a constant level resulting in chronic pain.
What It Is
Neuropathy is the term given to the inability of nerves to send and receive messages from the brain in a normal fashion. This malfunction of nerves in the body can have benign to severe symptoms.
Causes
Nerves that travel along the body near bones and muscles can become pinched, or constricted. When the signal flow is interrupted, proper control of these areas will most likely become impaired. This can ever be said of important organs. Diabetes can also cause nerve damage that reduces sensation in the hands and feet as well as other parts of the body.
Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms include loss of balance, burning sensations, weakness, and pain centered in the face, feet, legs, arms, and hands. People sometimes describe it as a tingling sensation, otherwise considered “pins and needles.”
Treatment
Neuropathy, like many other chronic pain conditions, doesn’t have a cure and may never go away. Therefore, your treatment is just to find ways to relieve the pain.
Natural Remedies
If you’re looking for a way to naturally control neuropathy, having a healthier lifestyle is among the best. At the top of this list would be maintaining healthy blood sugar levels to reduce symptoms. Managing stress and keeping up with regular exercise can help as well.
Back Pain
Generally speaking, chronic back pain is extremely common among adults all over the world. This condition can become extremely difficult to deal with because it can cause even the most able-bodied person to become immobile. It can also prevent them from doing even the most basic tasks to take care of themselves, others, and their environment. Even though there are quite a few solutions to this condition, some people will still lack the resources to obtain help.
What It Is
Back pain is any kind of pain that emanates from the back area. The back can easily be divided into different sections: the lower back, middle back, and upper back. Injuries sustained in each of these regions may point to a specific cause at times, but it is possible for it to not always be just so.
Causes
Back pain can be caused by:
- Overuse of muscles
- Muscle strain
- Disk deterioration
- Nerve damage
- Nerve malformation
- Lack of use
- Being overweight
Symptoms
Dull, sharp, and/or radiating pain that stem from the back. Limited range of motion. Difficulty standing for short or long periods of time.
Treatment
For back pain, there are a variety of treatment options, from chiropractic care and physical therapy to getting massages, changing your lifestyle, getting surgery, or taking pain relief medications. This will depend on the type of back pain you have.
Natural Remedies
Having a good, well-rounded exercise routine can help to prevent future injuries. When muscles are stronger, they help to keep other bones and muscles in place during activities. If you are experiencing soreness or tender areas of the back, you can try a soothing warm soak followed by a cold compress to ease inflammation. If you’ve seen a doctor and they can’t find a physical reason for your pain, the opinion of a nerve specialist might be the next step.
I wish you enough💜
Ginny Hanson
Health Coach and Mentor
