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DESCRIPTION:
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. The condition can be mild or excruciating, episodic or continuous, merely inconvenient or totally incapacitating. Chronic pain affects people of any age, but is most commonly associated with middle-aged to older adults. Often referred to as the "terrible triad," chronic pain commonly produces suffering, sleeplessness and sadness—a cycle that is extremely debilitating for both the sufferer and his or her family. Anxiety, stress, depression, anger and fatigue interact in complex ways with chronic pain and may decrease the body's production of natural painkillers.
How does chronic pain develop?
The causes of chronic pain are exceedingly diverse. Conditions accompanying aging may affect bones and joints in ways that cause chronic pain. Diseases such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, stomach ulcers, gallbladder disease and arthritis can also be underlying causes of chronic pain. In some cases, generalized muscle and nerve pain can develop into chronic pain. In other cases, injury can lead to chronic pain, or patients can experience chronic pain without any obvious physical cause.
However, we find that the majority of people suffering from chronic pain experience this pain as a result of ligament weakness from degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis, injury or repetitive use damage. In compensating for the ligament weakness, other areas of the body, including tendons and muscles, can be afflicted with referred pain.
What are the symptoms of chronic pain?
Any pain that lasts longer than six months is defined as chronic. Some common forms of chronic pain include continuous muscle pain accompanied by cramping, soreness, swelling and muscle spasms; headache pain, ranging from mild pain to excruciating migraines; enduring joint pain; and lingering back pain, which may be sharp or aching. Weakness, numbness, tingling, sleeping difficulties, lack of energy and depression often accompany chronic pain.
Conventional medical treatments may help relieve the symptoms of chronic pain but they do not address the root of the problem. By strengthening structural weaknesses in the body, as natural medicine therapies like Prolotherapy do, chronic pain may be alleviated permanently.
Discover why we believe that natural medicine treatments are the best way to treat chronic pain.
Learn about the treatments for
Chronic Pain
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