Difference Between Acute & Chronic Pain
Strategies to eliminate acute & chronic pain
Don't let your life be run by pain injury, talk to our consultants today.
Acute Injuries
Acute injuries generally have a sudden onset and usually have a clear mechanism of injury. They can be caused by direct contact or collision, or indirect contact, and occur when a force is applied to a body structure that is greater than what the muscles, ligaments, or bones can withstand. Understanding the Difference between Acute & Chronic Pain can help guide appropriate treatment and expectations for recovery.
Physiotherapists can assist with short and long-term management of acute injuries using both hands-on treatment and a more active approach to rehabilitate you back to health.
Different types of acute injuries include:
- Muscle strains, bruises, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
- Ligament sprains
- Bone fractures
- Joint dislocations
- Concussion
Chronic Injuries
Chronic injuries are injuries which have been ongoing or developing (with or without pain) for more than three months. These can sometimes start as acute injuries that have not adequately healed, or can also result from long-term repetitive work or activity (e.g. sport) stresses on the body that lead to injury. The onset of this type of chronic pain can develop gradually, often without any obvious mechanism of injury. Understanding the Difference between Acute & Chronic Pain is essential to ensure appropriate management and recovery strategies.
Physiotherapists can assist with chronic pain injuries by identifying contributing factors to pain and recommending activity modification to prevent ongoing damage or protect the injured area. Our Altaira physiotherapists can design graduated return to work, return to sport, or return to activity programs to help the affected body part to heal and then strengthen to prevent re-injury.
The different types of chronic injuries include:
- Tendinopathy (tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow)
- Shoulder impingement and rotator cuff tears
- Meniscal Tears
- Non-specific lower back pain