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  • IASP
    Professional forum for science, practice, and education in the field of pain
For medical emergencies call 911.
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Acute Pain

Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant. You may feel pain in one area of your body, such as your back, abdomen or chest, or you may feel pain all over, such as when your muscles ache from the flu.

Pain can be helpful. Without pain, you might seriously hurt yourself without knowing it, or you might not realize you have a medical problem that needs treatment. Once you take care of the problem, pain usually goes away. However, sometimes pain goes on for weeks, months or even years. This is called chronic pain. Sometimes chronic pain is due to an ongoing cause, such as cancer or arthritis. Sometimes the cause is unknown.

What treatments are available?

For recent injuries resulting in acute back or neck pain, IPMR Fast Track Back Care® can help.

Fortunately, there are many ways to treat pain. Treatment varies depending on the cause of pain.

Pain can be localized to a specific injured site or it can also be referred pain. For example, your forearm or wrist may feel pain, but the source of the pain is an impinged nerve in the neck. Correctly identifying the source is important in order to effectively treat the pain.

See also: Chronic Pain, Arthritis Source: http://familydoctor.org