What is Chronic Pain?
Watch this short video to learn about the difference between acute and chronic pain.
Key Points:
- Humans have evolved to feel acute pain as a form of protection.
- Acute pain is what you feel when you burn your hand or break a bone; it needs time for healing and rehabilitation.
- Chronic pain is not caused by tissue damage or a break, and cannot be found by most medical investigations like blood tests or x-rays.
- Chronic pain is not just in your mind; it is very real.
- In chronic pain, your super sensitive nervous system sends pain signals to your brain, even though blood tests and x-rays are normal.
- There are many things you can do to manage your pain. Learning about how pain works it is a really good first step.
Helpful Resources
Pain BC website
Pain BC is a collaborative non-profit organization made up of people in pain, health care providers, and leaders from universities, government, business and the non-profit sector. We aim to improve the lives of people in pain through education, empowerment and innovation.
People in Pain Network
People in Pain Network is the only Canadian not-for-profit organiaztion providing peer-led pain self-management groups in Canada.
Pain Squad
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto needed to find a way to encourage their young cancer patients to complete daily reports on their pain. With a little back-up from Canada's top police dramas, our innovative mobile app made this overwhelming task easy and fun.
Sign up for MyCarePath
Create an account to track your progress through the learning modules. An account gives you access to tracking and planning tools that you can use to support your recovery and share with your treatment team.