Learning to relax takes practice, especially when you are in pain, but it is definitely worth it to be able to release muscle tension throughout the body and start to remove attention from the pain.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is a wide-sweeping term, often describing pain that lasts more than three to six months or pain beyond the point of tissue healing. Some forms of chronic pain can be linked to an identifiable cause, like degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, or spondylolisthesis. Other forms of pain have no known or understood cause, such as fibromyalgia or neuropathic pain (nerve pain). Fighting chronic pain is a lifelong struggle for many.
Chronic pain that results from damage to, or pathological changes of, the peripheral or central nervous system is called neuropathic pain.
Using the mind to control chronic pain through specific pain control techniques may be used alone or in tandem with other pain management therapies.
Modern Theories of Chronic Pain
The Gate Control Theory of chronic pain - is changing the way chronic back pain may be understood, diagnosed and treated.
Types of Back Pain
Understanding how pain is defined is important in order to learn how to control it. For various purposes, pain can be separated into acute, chronic and neuropathic pain.