Knowra Chronic pain Chronic pain Chronic pain persists or recurs for longer than three months, often beyond the usual course of healing. It can arise from ongoing tissue damage or changes in how the nervous system processes signals.
Nociception : The neural process of detecting and encoding potentially harmful stimuli. It is the sensory signaling process that may continue or become altered in persistent pain.
International Association for the Study of Pain : An international organization that advances pain research, education, and clinical practice. Its definition treats pain as a personal sensory and emotional experience, not merely tissue damage.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain : A psychological treatment that builds skills for managing pain-related thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It targets distress and disability without assuming that pain is imaginary.
Insomnia : Persistent difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or obtaining restorative sleep despite adequate opportunity. Pain and sleep disruption can reinforce one another over time.
Central sensitization : Increased responsiveness of neurons in the central nervous system to sensory input. It can amplify pain signals and contribute to pain persisting after tissue healing.
Acute pain : Pain of recent onset that commonly accompanies injury, illness, or tissue damage. Its usual connection to immediate threat contrasts with pain that persists beyond expected healing.
Physical therapy : Healthcare focused on movement, function, and physical rehabilitation. Graded movement and rehabilitation can support function despite persistent pain.
Depression : A mood disorder involving persistent low mood or loss of interest and other symptoms. Chronic pain is associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms and disorder.
Peripheral sensitization : Increased responsiveness of sensory neurons near an injury or inflamed tissue. It can sustain heightened pain input from an affected body region.
Pain threshold : The minimum stimulus intensity at which a person reports pain. Threshold helps distinguish the point of pain perception from the experience's later persistence.
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