What are the signs & symptoms?

Pain is a very personal thing and different for everyone. How you perceive pain is down to many factors, such as your mood, how you have been brought up to deal with pain, and how much support you're getting.

If you're suffering from chronic pain, you may feel it anywhere in the body.

Some people find it comes and goes with periods when they are pain free, interspersed with weeks or months when the pain is very bad and debilitating. This is known as intermittent pain, as opposed to persistent pain which stays with you all the time.

You might find it hard to describe the pain you're feeling. There are many words to describe pain and they all mean slightly different things. You might say you have a throbbing pain in your arm that comes and goes, or you might feel tightness in your chest all day long. Aching, numbness, burning, coldness and stabbing sensations are also used to describe pain. Here are some other ways of describing pain:

Chronic widespread muscle pain
Muscle soreness
Tenderness
Flu-like aching
Tingling
Shooting
Throbbing
Dull pain in the muscles

Other symptoms of pain may include:

Problems sleeping
Morning stiffness
Fatigue
Poor appetite
Mobility problems
Feeling anxious
Feeling depressed

How does pain progress?

If you have an injury your pain will usually last just as long as this takes to heal. For example, the pain from a sprained ankle will ease as the muscles and tissues around your ankle repair themselves, usually within a week or two. But if you have chronic pain that is caused by an underlying medical problem this will usually last much longer.

Unfortunately it's not possible to say how your pain will affect you in the years to come. Everyone is different and a lot can depend on how your underlying medical problem is managed.

Some types of neuropathic (nerve) pain resolve over time. The pain caused by shingles, for example, often gets better over time. However, it is possible that you may have pain for some years. The important thing is being able to talk to your doctor and other healthcare professionals about how your pain responds to different treatments.

Don't just put up with your long - term pain, as there is a lot that can be done to manage it. Managing pain is a medical specialty, so experts who can help you are to hand. Together with new treatments and techniques for managing chronic pain, they can help you stay active and keep doing the things you enjoy.

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