Millions of people suffer from chronic pain in their daily life. Besides the pain itself, one of the main problems for the individual is that chronic pain is invisible to others at first glance, so friends, family, and colleagues assume everything is alright; that is unfortunate, because these individuals suffer not only physically, but also emotionally, psychologically, and socially. This is why increasing empathy and the understanding between doctors and patients, leading to more appropriate treatment, are the goals of the ‘my pain feels like…’ initiative. [Read More][Read less]
Nerve pain plays a role in many types of chronic pain conditions, which is exactly why we put nerve pain in the focus for the ‘my pain feels like…’ initiative. We want to improve the knowledge and raise awareness of both patients and doctors. Our aim is to equip patients with valuable background information and the right tools to identify and explain their chronic pain, such as the ‘my pain questionnaire’, in order to play an active part in the diagnosis and treatment process.
For everyone suffering from pain, and especially from chronic pain, it may be important to know the reason behind this suffering. By clicking on certain parts of the body graphic below, you will get valuable background information about potentially related nerve pain conditions.
Different types of chronic pain where damaged nerves can have an impact
Click on the bodies to highlight the area where you feel pain.
Acute Pain (short-term pain)
Short-term pain is also known as acute pain, and it is pain that warns of a disease or a physical threat to the body. It is a vital signal of wounds, infections, burns and other injuries, and helps to protect the body as it encourages us to take care of the damaged area.
Acute pain is intended to be temporary and may last anywhere up to 12 weeks, depending on the underlying cause. It will usually disappear on its own once the underlying cause has been properly treated. Keep in mind, acute pain is a symptom while chronic pain is a disease.
Chronic Pain (long-lasting pain)
Usually the feeling of pain (pain sensation) alerts to a disease or physical threat, also to protect the body from further damage. When the damaged area has healed, the feeling of pain should decrease and disappear. There are two main categories of pain: nociceptive and neuropathic. Nociceptive pain occurs when signals are sent to the brain following an irritation or injury (e.g. a sprained ankle). Neuropathic pain occurs as a result of damage to the nervous system.
Chronic pain (long-lasting pain), however, can exist even after the injury has healed, and in this case serves no useful purpose. The body incorrectly signals to the brain that there is pain, when in reality there is no longer any injury present. This chronic pain can last for months and even years. One of the most common examples of chronic pain is low back pain (LBP). Read more about chronic pain here. [Read More]
Nerve Pain (neuropathic pain)
There are multiple events or conditions that cause nerve damage, which affects how pain signals are transmitted from certain parts of the body to the brain. If unrepaired, this damage can cause a type of long term or chronic pain that is called nerve pain / neuropathic pain. Read more about neuropathic pain here. [Read More]
Localized nerve pain (localized neuropathic pain)
A high percentage of all nerve pain conditions are localized. Do you have shooting pain, burning pain, or stabbing pain that is limited to a certain part of your skin or body? Have you had some kind of infection or perhaps a surgery near that area? Both infections and surgeries can cause localized nerve damage that in turn causes long-term or chronic pain. This is called localized neuropathic pain (LNP) or localized nerve pain. Doctors might have a difficult time diagnosing LNP and its origins, so please be sure to tell your doctor if you had an infection or surgery and now have chronic pain in the affected area. Read more about localized neuropathic pain here. [Read More]