Frequently Asked Questions about Pain
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A brief note:
Over time, some questions seem to be asked over and over. It's not that they're bad or foolish questions. Quite the opposite. They're reasonable, and important. That's why so many people ask them.
While this site CAN NOT and WILL NOT provide medical advice or diagnosis, education is important. There are many sites which may provide more detailed answers and more numerous questions. A simple internet search can turn up many sites, particularly for specific syndromes.
All answers, definitions, and explanations provided on these pages are by the site administrator, James Mooney MD (doctor of medicine).
I broke my arm/leg/rib 6/8/12 months/years ago, why does it still hurt?
There are many reasons why pain may linger after an injury seems to have healed. Unfortunately, it is often uncertain why a particular person continues to have pain when other don't.
Even if the muscles and bones heal well, there is the potential for nerves to have been injured. Sometimes these nerves just take longer to heal. Other times, the nerves may never heal.
There can also be changes in the way the nerves function. Similar to how a person remembers a face or a name, your body may alter the location or strength of connections between nerves due to pain or injury.
But, important for every person looking at pain, there is always the possibility that something is still injured/ dysfunctioning and causing the pain. These need to be ruled out before 'simply' treating pain.
My friend/ boss/ aunt had a <injury/ illness/ procedure/something> and was fine. I thought it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Why?
In short, every body is different. People vary in their sensitivity to things (like pain, or heat) due to the way their nervous system is 'wired'. But culture, gender, even the situation the stimulus occurs in can alter a persons perception of pain.
An example might be needles. Someone may be terrified of injections and having blood drawn. They may think even the tiniest needle for drawing blood is excrutiating. But they may also find tattoos to be important in their personal or social lives. Getting a tattoo (using needles...) may be just an 'ache'.
I know someone who is being seen at a 'pain' center, but s/he's working and doing everything I am. How can that be? Don't they just see people with severe pain?
Just because a person is coping with pain well doesn't mean it isn't severe. there are many different ways pain presents, and many ways to cope with it. Obviously medications are one way, and injections are another. These can help a person reduce the pain enough to function day to day.
Another possibility is the activities themselves may be helping with the discomfort. If they're going to the gym, it might be to keep sore areas limber and supporting areas strong. If they're doing office work, it may help keep their mind off the pain.
Imagine yourself with an itch you couldn't scratch. If you were doing nothing, it could be very hard to think of anything besides that itch. It might seem to get worse the more you thought about it. If you were doing something that occupied your attention instead, while the itch wouldn't necessarily go away, it might be more tolerable....
