- Fibromyalgia is one such disorder that is a true disorder, but is difficult to diagnose with a specific test. Fibromyalgia is a condition that affects a patient's muscles and ligaments. The typical age of a fibromyalgia patient is mid-30s to late 50s. There are two theories of how fibromyalgia develops: The first is the lack of stage four sleep. A fibromyalgia patient may sleep for a long period of time, but never reaches the deep level of sleep needed for muscle to restore itself after a day of use. The second is that there is too much cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) called substance P. This substance transmits pain impulses to the brain. In fibromyalgia patients, the levels of this substance are higher. Fibromyalgia patients suffer from chronic pain, fatigue, Fibro fog, headaches, nervousness, numbness, dizziness and intestinal disturbances. The diagnosis is formed from the history and physical exam. The physical exam includes determining if at least 11 of the 18 sensitive points are affected.
- Chronic pain is a response to acute pain even when the cause of the acute pain has been resolved. The presence of continued stimulation can cause changes at the molecular level. This molecular change makes it extremely difficult for your physician to determine the cause of the stimulation.
- Viral infections can cause nerve pain called allodymia. This condition causes unbearable pain when doing normal daily tasks, such as lifting your clothes or picking up a glass. Hyperalgesia is very much like allodymia in the severe level of pain. Unlike allodymia, hyperalgesia causes severe or extreme pain when you get a needle prick or paper cut. The brain receives a signal that this needle prick or paper cut is similar to cutting off your arm or leg.
- Phantom pain develops when the nerves do not realize that the limb is no longer attached to the body. Amputees often face this type of chronic pain. This type of chronic pain is difficult for the patient as they are dealing with not only the loss of the limb, but the pain from the absent limb.
- Injuries to your neck or back are one of the largest groups of chronic pain sufferers. No matter how you injure your back, the muscles, nerves or vertebrae, the pain can be extremely intense and even disabling. There are numerous courses of treatment for back pain, but being able to determine the exact cause of the pain makes it a matter of trial and error.
- There is not a diagnostic test that will diagnose the intensity of pain of a chronic pain sufferer. Most physicians have adopted the pain scale of one to 10. While this give the physician a gauge to measure their patients pain, the pain level of the next patient may actually be higher or lower than the previous patient but receive the same number on the scale. This makes developing a standardized scale difficult if not impossible to do. Each patient is then given the individual score for their pain and work towards lowering not only the scale of pain, but also working on reducing the frequency of high pain occurrences.
- Treatment for chronic pain is wide and varied. No longer is medication the only option. Physicians will incorporate a variety of treatment options to achieve pain relief. Pain relief is not the only objective, increasing the patient's quality of life is another priority. The quality of life will increase if the cause of the pain can be removed. Treatment options include but are not limited to medications, physical therapy, occupational therapy, herbal therapy, nutritional therapy, homeopathy, acupressure, acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care, guided imagery, relaxation, yoga, hypnosis, meditation and hydrotherapy. Success is found with a combination of therapies. Some of the therapies are delivered in a medical setting, however you can pursue some of these therapies at home. Nutritional, herbal and exercise can be pursued at home with great success. Success for chronic pain suffers does not necessarily include pain free from this point on. Success for chronic pain suffers includes the opportunity to go partial days or several days in a row without severe pain. Chronic pain may never complete leave your life, but it can be made bearable.
