Living with chronic pain, caused by any medical condition whatsoever, is an experience that nobody wants to go through. Unfortunately, there are millions of people that are experiencing chronic pain and wishing they knew how to once and for all get some relief.

We are all familiar with the concept of pain, we all have felt it at some point in our lives whether it was because we have cut our finger or broken our leg, our body has used the concept of pain to inform us that something is not quite right. However, in those examples, as soon as the reason is treated, we get lasting relief from pain. And that is the main difference between acute and chronic pain.

You see, chronic pain does not go away even though the injury has healed. You feel that annoying and challenging chronic pain for months, even years. It can occur as back pain or ankle pain or even a headache.

Chronic pain can be either mild or severe. You can feel it as shooting, burning, squeezing, stinging sensations or as a dull ache. It can lead to decreased appetite, insomnia, depression, and fatigue. And that is why it is essential to be treated appropriately. But what is causing chronic pain to occur?

There are quite a significant number of medical conditions that can lead to chronic pain. However, there are few of those that are occurring more commonly than others. And that is what I am going to talk about.

Let’s discuss these eight medical conditions that are most commonly described as the causes of chronic pain, shall we?

Peripheral Nephropathy – Caused by damage to your peripheral nerves, peripheral nephropathy causes weakness, numbness, and chronic pain usually in the hands and feet to occur. The cause of peripheral nerve damage could be traumatic injuries, metabolic problems, infections, diabetics, etc.

Chronic neuropathic pain can be treated with the use of medications, physical therapy, and massage therapy. You can also try exercising, which has been proven as an efficient way to relieve the pain in this case. Acupuncture has also produced results.

Fibromyalgia – Is a medical condition that causes chronic muscle pain, fatigue, depression, and sleep troubles. Although none of these symptoms can be seen, they do produce a considerable impairment in the patient’s life.

Although we are talking about a chronic pain here, there are a few powerful medications that you can try. And of course, there are the necessary lifestyle changes such as a healthier diet and regular exercise.

Perhaps exercising is the last thing on your mind when you feel your muscles aching. However, activities like swimming, walking, stretching have been proven to help relieve the pain.

Arthritis – With its 100 different types is among the most worrying medical conditions out there. If you gather your information about arthritis, you will soon find out that there is no cure for Arthritis.

All that you can do is perform a few tricks to help relieve the symptoms such as pain, stiffness, inflammation and decreased the range of motion. Once again, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and moderate alcohol intake can help you combat all of these symptoms.

Headache – We ALL know this one. However, when your headache lasts for more than a few hours, then you can consider your problem as a chronic one. And with a persistent headache, depression, vomiting, nausea, and insomnia come as well.

So, what can you do to relieve it? Getting a massage, trying acupuncture and some of the famous herbal remedies for chronic headaches in combination with an active pharmaceutical might be the thing that you are looking for. Hydrate. This, like low-dose aspirin, thins the blood slightly allowing it to more efficiently the areas where the pain is being generated.

Past injuries/surgeries – Can also be the cause of your joint pain. If your surgery is relatively recent, 6 months or less, keep your doctor informed as there are many things that can affect healing. If the surgery was severe – an amputation, then these take much longer to retrain the nervous system to deal with. Again – your doctor. And who among us does not have at least one relative or friend who claims their “fill in the blank” surgery can predict the weather better than their local news source?

Low back pain – This has taken part in everyone’s life at some point. However, for many people, it becomes harder and harder to deal with the more chronic it becomes.

Previous injuries, surgery, arthritis can all be the cause of your chronic back pain. And once again, massage, acupuncture, yoga, physical therapy and, in extreme cases, traction can help you combat your low back pain.

Multiple sclerosis – This has been listed as one of the standard causes of chronic pain. Chronic pain due to multiple sclerosis can be either neuropathic pain, pain due to fatigue and immobility or illness related to a spastic condition. Of course, pharmaceuticals are the best answer to your prayers here, but you can also try the unexpected effects of physical therapy, yoga, and massage therapy as well as some dietary changes.

The curvature of the spine – Such as scoliosis and kyphosis can also be the ones that are causing your chronic pain to occur over and over again. Since you know what is causing your chronic pain, in this case, the trick is working to remove the cause and with that your chronic pain.

But how can you do that, you ask? The best thing that you can do for scoliosis and kyphosis is physical therapy and lots of functional exercises. In the meantime, you can also look to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and over-the-counter painkillers as well, under the advice of your doctor.

Conclusion

What you need to remember is the fact that you may not have to live with chronic pain even if you are not able to remove its cause once and for all. As you can see, we have listed 8 of the most common causes of chronic pain and explained what you can do to recover from the illness, or at least find some relief. The recurring theme of exercise, eating right and getting enough sleep should not be lost on you.

Additionally, you can try a massage or physical therapy or perhaps even yoga or acupuncture, whatever you choose we hope that it will help you to combat your chronic pain, lessen its severity and bring you some sense of control over your condition.