Chronic Pain Support Group

Chronic pain becomes chronic when it persists longer than 6 months and is resistant to medical management. Millions of Americans are chronic pain patients and some experts view chronic pain as a disease itself. Chronic pain can affect many areas of the patient's life, even causing depression and making work and social activities challenging or impossible.

Different disorders contribute to chronic pain - low back or neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, osteoarthritis, and spinal injury are a few. Other types of pain may contribute to chronic pain. One example is neurogenic pain resulting from damage to the central or peripheral nervous system.

Chronic pain does not create scars and cannot be "seen" on an x-ray. It is common for patients to become frustrated because chronic pain is difficult to treat. After the original medical disorder or injury heals, the patient may be left with "unexplained" chronic pain.

The good news is that progress has been made with treating chronic pain. Pain specialists usually employ a combination of treatments to most effectively manage the pain. Many patients gain better control of their pain through a combination of medications (painkillers, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, anti-depressants), spinal injections (e.g. epidural steroid injections), physical and rehabilitative therapies, chiropractic, or complementary alternative medicine (e.g. acupuncture).