We all occasionally feel pain in some parts of our body. The nagging ache, stiffness or bruise is usually a momentary distraction and heals on its own with time.

But chronic pain is a different condition. This is pain that doesn’t fade with time, lasting for weeks to months to becoming a never-ending problem. It can range from mild distraction to bed-ridden debilitation, and it’s never far from the mind of the person suffering from it. Such pain can lead to loss of the enjoyment of life, end family relationships, stifle work opportunities, and generally reduce the quality of life from enjoyment to mere toleration.

The original cause of the pain doesn’t matter. It can be from an injury or infection or can be the result of a disease like cancer or arthritis, a headache, or even nerve damage. It may stem from a work-related injury or because the person is obese, thereby putting more wear and tear on the body.

Worse are the cases where there is no apparent cause. Those are maddening, because no clear treatment exists, thus leaving the sufferer with no path out of his or her misery. The good news is medical personnel now understand that such pain without a determined source isn’t something that patients have “in their head,” meaning they are imagining it. That used to be a common refrain, but as science has uncovered more details about nerves and neural pathways, diagnosis and treatment options have improved.

Chronic Pain Is Widespread

Under medical definitions, there is no “cure” for chronic pain. But there are any number of medicines or treatments that hope to reduce the affliction to manageable levels.