Acute and Chronic Pain – what’s the difference?

Acute and Chronic Pain – what’s the difference?

Essential Reading by  Dr W Allister Dow

Dr W Allister Dow MB ChB FRCA FFPMRCA Surg Cdr Royal Navy Rtd Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Royal Surrey County Hospital

The scientific definition of pain from the International Association for the Study of Pain is “Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage”. 

Practically, pain is so complex that a better definition to simplify things is, “Pain is what the patient says it is”.

Acute pain occurs when tissue is damaged. It motivates the individual to withdraw from the damaging situation. Most acute pain resolves in a short period of time once the painful stimulus is removed or once healing has occurred.

Chronic pain - unfortunately pain sometimes continues despite removal of the source of the pain or beyond the time when healing has occurred. Chronic pain may also occur in the absence of any detectable stimulus, injury, damage or disease. Chronic pain may be part of a disease process such as osteoarthritis or cancer or may be a consequence of nerve damage or dysfunction. Scientifically we define chronic pain as “Pain that persists a month beyond the usual course of a disease process or beyond a reasonable time for an injury to heal” or “Pain that is associated with a chronic pathological process that causes continuous pain or causes pain to recur at intervals for months or years”.

Acute pain is a gift which allows us to protect ourselves. Chronic pain serves no protective function and is damaging to health, mental state, function and quality of life.

Most people do not realise how common it is for people to live with moderate to severe pain. In 2008 the Department of Health published an article in the Annual Chief Medical Officers Report entitled, “Pain Breaking through the barrier”, in which we learnt that 8-10 million people in the UK live with chronic or persistent pain. 1 in 4 households are affected. 1 in 5 GP appointments are about pain representing 4.6 million GP appointments every year. This means that millions of people live with and suffer chronic pain but do not seek medical assistance and treatment.

Many people suffer in silence assuming that pain is a normal part of aging or assuming that nothing can be done about it. 

Many people do not want to bother their doctor about their pain. Since 2008 there has been extensive training of doctors in the best ways to manage pain. Most GP’s are now highly trained in pain management and pain can usually be well managed by GPs in their surgeries. When pain control proves to be difficult there are highly specialised pain clinics in most large hospitals where patients can be referred in order to attempt to gain better pain control. 

Treatments include medication management, investigation, education and reassurance injections, physiotherapy, acupuncture, use of TENS machines, occupational therapy, psychological therapy and group-based pain management programmes. Don’t suffer in silence, there is help available and the first step is to talk with a GP.
High quality, effective, efficient, professional care

Direct access to a multidisciplinary team including specialist pain management consultant, anaesthetist, physiotherapists, acupuncturists and psychologist
Providing diagnosis, treatment and management of all acute and chronic pain conditions
Schedule a Consultation
Share by: