What’s the difference between chronic, acute and regular pain and how can treatment for a legitimate ailment lead to tolerance, dependence or abuse?
Most prescription drug abusers start out taking a medication as directed for pain management. All too soon, though, they find they are taking the drug for other reasons and are unable to stop. To get an idea of how this happens, it’s best to go back to the beginning and look at different types of pain.
Pain Definitions
Pain—An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.
Acute Pain—The normal, predicted physiological response to a noxious chemical, thermal or mechanical stimulus. This is typically associated with invasive procedures, trauma or disease. Acute pain is generally time-limited.
Chronic Pain—A state in which pain persists beyond the usual course of an acute disease or healing of an injury. It may or may not be associated with an acute or chronic pathologic process that causes continuous or intermittent pain over months or years.
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