| What Is the Difference Between Acute and Chronic Pain?
Pain that hits you suddenly – after falling from a ladder, being tackled on the football field, or lifting a load that is just too heavy, for example – is acute pain. Acute pain comes on quickly and often leaves just as quickly. To be classified as acute, pain should last no longer than 6 weeks. Acute pain is the most common type of back pain.Chronic pain, on the other hand, may come on either quickly or slowly, and it lingers a long time. In general, pain that lasts more than 3 months is considered chronic. Chronic pain is much less common than acute pain. How Is Back Pain Treated? Treatment for back pain generally depends on what kind of pain you experience: acute or chronic. Acute Back Pain Acute back pain usually gets better on its own and without treatment, although you may want to try acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen to help ease the pain. Perhaps the best advice is to go about your usual activities as much as you can with the assurance that the problem will clear up. Getting up and moving around can help ease stiffness, relieve pain, and have you back doing your regular activities sooner. Exercises are not usually advisable for acute back pain, nor is surgery. |
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What To Expect With Sciatica
Sciatica is a descriptive term. It means that there is a physical compression on the sciatic nerve and this causes pain/numbness along part/all parts of the nerve. What it does not describe is what is compressing it.
With sciatica there are potentially different causes and thus they will have different manifestations; especially with what positions or activities are causing the nerve irritation. It is important to let the treating practitioner know which positions aggravate to help determine what is the underlying cause/diagnosis.
The position/activity that causes the sciatic nerve compression needs to be respected. Besides being painful, this compression will also cause local damage to the nerve and further propagate the problem. Avoid this position/activity until the respective problem is resolved. Once the compression has been resolved respectively the nerve will need time to heel. Nerves are very slow healing tissue and it might take the better part of a year to get maximum resolution.
During this nerve healing time (assuming the underlying nerve irritation remains resolved), re-strengthening of the involved musculature needs to be addressed. If the initial compression lasted more than 2 weeks than it can be expected that the involved muscles lost conditioning. The longer the initial problem persisted, the more deconditioning occurred.
To get maximum resolution of a person’s sciatica, this re-strengthening phase must be fully completed. If not then the problem or a different new problem will realistically occur. If re-strengthening is attempted while the original compression persists, then local damage to the involved musculature will occur.
Timing is everything.
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