Everything You Need to Know About Pain Relief

What is pain?

Pain is an uncomfortable experience that tells individuals something may be wrong. Pain can be steady, stabbing, throbbing, pinching, aching, and described in many other ways. Sometimes, it’s just a nuisance as a mild headache, while other times it can be debilitating.

Pain can bring specific physical symptoms, including dizziness, weakness, nausea, and drowsiness, etc. It can produce emotional symptoms, too, including mood swings or irritability, anger, depression. Sometimes, most significantly, it can change your lifestyle and affect your job, relationships, and independence.

This uncomfortable experience is classified in two stages acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain stands for a short-living severe pain and indicates someone about an injury. Chronic pain can vary from mild to severe that lived for an extended period of time, and it can be a result of a disease.

How can pain be managed, or what is pain management?

As I have already mentioned, pain is an uncomfortable experience, and no want to live with discomfort. Therefore, they search for treatment in different ways. And treating pain by these different ways is called pain management.

Pain management can also range from simple to complex, depending on the severity and type of pain. An example of discomfort that is typically less complex would be nerve root irritation from a herniated disc with discomfort radiating down the leg. This pain can often be treated with physical therapy or epidural steroid injection. Sometimes it can become difficult to treat and require a wide variety of skills and techniques.

Techniques for pain management :

• Interventional procedure
• Physical therapy or chiropractic therapy
• Psychological counseling and support
• Medication management
• Acupuncture and other alternatives
• Referral to other medical specialists, etc.

What are the types of pain?

Pain is classified into two stages, acute and chronic, as mentioned above. These stages can be divided according to their severity, symptoms, and reason behind them.

Even though the pain sensation varies from one person to another, it is possible to categorize the different types of pain.

Nerve pain

This type of discomfort is often described as a burning or shooting pain. This pain can go away on its own but is often chronic. Sometimes it comes and goes when sometimes it is unrelenting and severe. It usually is the result of a malfunctioning nervous system or nerve damage.

Causes of Neuropathic pain :

The below-given conditions can be a cause of this pain.

Amputation, alcoholism, chemotherapy, facial nerve problem, diabetes, HIV infection or AIDS, spine surgery, multiple myeloma, thyroid problems, etc.

Treatment: It can be tough to getting control of your nerve pain, but the doctors have a lot of ways to treat it. These ways can include pain relievers, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants, as well as electrical stimulation and other techniques.

Chronic pain :

Chronic pain is long-term pain that can stay in your body for months or even years after the injury. Medical professionals often define it as any pain that lasts 3 to 6 months or more. This type of pain can affect your daily life and your mental health. But it can be treated by you and your doctor’s help.

Sometimes, this long-lasting pain can begin without any apparent cause. But for many people, it occurs after an injury or a health condition. Causes can include back problems, past surgeries or injuries, headaches including migraines, nerve damage, arthritis, infection, etc.

Treatment: This long-term pain is also tough to cure, but some medications can help you to stop experiencing chronic illnesses. If you have a condition with chronic pain, you can take the help of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, COX-2 inhibitors, antidepressants and anti-seizure medications, opioids, etc.

Psychogenic pain :

This is an abnormal pain that is not matched with an individual’s conditions and symptoms. The diagnosis of this pain is made only when all other causes of discomfort are ruled out.

The most common types of psychogenic pain are; muscle pain, headaches, back pain, and stomach pains, etc.

Treatment: Your and your doctor can treat this condition with the help of Psychotherapy. Sometimes, in particular, critical conditions, your healthcare provider can prescribe you to take antidepressants and non-narcotic painkillers.

Chronic muscle pain :

Chronic muscle pain refers to pain and inflammation in the body’s tissues. This chronic condition affects the connective tissues, which cover the muscles (fascia). It can affect either a single muscle or a muscle group.

Cause of chronic pain can include repetitive motions, injury to muscle fibers, and lack of activity.

Treatment: There are many options for the management of chronic pain. Under the general category of drugs, there are both topical and oral therapies for the treatment of chronic muscle pain.

Musculoskeletal pain :

This type of pain can affect the ligaments and tendons, muscles, and bones. Causes of this condition can vary, including auto accidents, jerking movements, fractures, falls, dislocations, etc.

Treatment: Patients with musculoskeletal pain can take the help of different types of manual therapies. Some medications are also available for pain management purposes. They may take the help of exercise, physical or occupational therapy, relaxation, chiropractic care, and therapeutic massage. 

Abdominal pain :

Causes can include Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, food poisoning, food allergies, gas, etc.

Treatment: Abdominal pain management will depend on the reason behind the pain. Doctors can prescribe certain medications, along with physical activities.

1. Central pain syndrome
2. Joint pain
3. Shingles pain
4. Diabetes-related nerve pain
5. Trigeminal neuralgia

Classes (types) of pain medications :

• Opioid medications like Oxycodone (OxyContin) , Hydrocodone (Vicodin), morphine and codeine, etc.
• Muscle relaxant medications such as Aspirin-free singlet, Tylenol, Lortab (combination)
• Anti-anxiety medicines like Alprazolam (Xanax), Clonazepam (Klonopin), Diazepam (Valium), Lorazepam (Ativan), etc.
• Some antidepressants, including Citalopram, fluoxetine, etc.
• NSAIDs and
• Corticosteroids, etc.