Pain Management and Opioids Guide for Consumers
Understand Pain
What Kind of Pain Do You Have?
Talk with Your Doctor about Pain
Self-Care for Pain Management
Understand Opioids
A Pain Medication
Side Effects and Risks
How to Store and Dispose
Acute pain
Pain is one of the most common reasons people see a doctor. Acute pain is your body’s alarm system sending a message that something is wrong. Acute pain can be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for days or weeks. Acute pain can be caused by an injury, infection or disease. This pain can be sharp, shooting, stabbing, throbbing or stinging. It usually goes away when the cause of the pain is fixed. Acute pain that doesn’t get better can become chronic pain.
It is important not to ignore acute pain since this is your body telling you to slow down and take care of what is causing the pain. Ignoring the pain may lead to a person doing too much, too soon and before their body is healed.
Pain is an unpleasant feeling. It can be an emotional experience since it’s due to some kind of medical condition like an illness or injury.
How you feel and react to pain depends on what is causing the pain and several other personal factors such as:
- Your genetic makeup and how sensitive your body is to pain
- Eating habits, exercise, getting enough rest and sleep
- History of health problems
- Stress and anxiety
- Past experiences with pain
- Biological, psychological and other social factors like religion or stress over money
Chronic pain
Chronic pain can occur daily and continue for months or even years. It’s usually described as pain lasting three months or more. Chronic pain can be mild to severe and may be constant or come and go. This pain could be dull, throbbing, burning or aching.
People experience pain differently. An injury or illness that may be extremely painful for one person may be only slightly painful for another.
Understanding your pain and your individual experience is important. Work with your doctor to develop a pain management plan that will meet your needs.