Chronic Pain Management

Pain is a condition that will affect everyone at some point in their lifetime. Fortunately, most individuals have their pain managed well by a number of conventional methods and alternative therapies. However, there are a significant number of patients who have poorly controlled chronic pain.

There are three basic types of pain: acute pain, chronic malignant pain, and chronic nonmalignant pain. This article will focus of the latter of these types; chronic nonmalignant pain. This is the least predictable and most difficult type of pain to treat. Recent studies have shown that in order to effectively manage chronic nonmalignant pain a multidisciplinary approach is necessary. This includes patient education, medications, rehabilitation, and psychosocial counseling. (1)

In this discussion, we will address the three basic principles of management that must be addressed to treat difficult cases of chronic nonmalignant pain. First, you must respect the pain, and find a physician who understands your condition. By learning about your condition, you empower yourself in treating the pain. Second, recognize the physchosocial aspects of the pain. Chronic nonmalignant pain has the ability to control your life. Only you can prevent this by being aware of how pain can overtake your life and taking steps to prevent this. Finally, treating the pain involves many different methods to attack the condition in various ways. One of the methods to attack pain is with drug therapy, but it is only effective when used in concert with the other treatment methods outlined in this article.

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