Acute pain is usually a red flag, most often a way for your body to signal injury. While chronic pain can last for up to years, often requiring suffers to find pain management solutions. What do you really know about pain though? Here are a few facts to help you understand a bit more about what you are experiencing with pain.
#1 – Men Feel Less Pain Than Women.
Over their whole lives women typically experience more pain due to migraine headaches, menstruation, and childbirth. Women also actually experience pain more intensely than men do. A brain scan shows that a different part of the female brain “lights up” while experiencing pain. They also have less pain blockers then men as well. Animal studies have also show that female animals can take up to twice the pain relief to alleviate similar levels of pain. It’s because women and men are just “wired” a little differently.
#2 – Chronic Pain Is Emotional Too!
Pain, especially chronic pain, can influence more than just your body. The psychological stress caused by pain can often lead to emotions like anger and frustration. Chronic pain is known to cause depression amongst suffers. This is often due to the vicious cycle between pain and stress. Both increasing the other, in turn increasing also itself. Making the emotional toll of pain one of the main reasons pain management is so important.
#3 – Smoking Is Tied to Back Pain?
Strangely enough, studies show an increase in risk for back pain amongst smokers! As well as an increase in those who suffer from chronic fibromyalgia and neck pain. Decreased blood flow in joints and back, due to Nicotine in smoke, can cause delayed healing and increased risk to further injury. Studies also show an increase in dosage in needed to manage the chronic pain of suffers who smoke.
Chronic pain is a lot to handle, don’t let it control your life. Contact us to learn more about pain and your available pain management solutions.