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5 Signs Your Chronic Pain Needs a Specialist, Not Just Rest

Integrity Pain & Wellness Blog 5 Signs Your Chronic Pain Needs a Specialist, Not Just Rest
5 Signs Your Chronic Pain Needs a Specialist, Not Just Rest

Experiencing any kind of pain can be uncomfortable and disruptive to your life. 

Some types of pain go away relatively quickly with rest and other self-care measures, but others can linger long-term without the support of our pain management doctors and providers at Integrity Pain & Wellness in Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, and Prescott , Arizona.

If you’re experiencing chronic pain, a few simple self-assessment questions can help you determine if you need medical support. If any of these five signs apply to you, you might need to see a chronic pain specialist.

Your pain is long-lasting

Anyone can experience short-lived pain from an acute injury or occasional back pain, neck pain, or headaches. Occasional pain or pain that goes away quickly isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, but pain that lasts longer can become chronic.

Once you’ve experienced the same pain for more than three months, it’s considered chronic rather than acute pain. If your pain lasts for at least a few months, even if it’s not severe, it’s time to get support managing your chronic pain.

Your pain interferes with daily activities

One of the most challenging aspects of chronic pain is how it gets in the way of everyday life. Your pain is chronic and needs specialist care if you’re having trouble doing activities you used to do easily or previously enjoyed.

Daily activities that chronic pain can disrupt could include:

Sleep is an essential daily need that can also be harmed by chronic pain. Chronic pain can make it difficult to fall asleep, can wake you throughout the night, or even keep you from sleeping at all.

Your pain stays at moderate to high levels

Medical professionals rate pain on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being little to no pain, and 10 being severe pain. If your pain is at least a 5 out of 10 consistently, it’s significant enough that you should get checked out.

Chronic pain can be constant or come and go. Even if your pain is intermittent, if it stays at least moderately painful when it does occur, a chronic pain specialist can be of support.

You have signs of nerve pain

Nerve pain comes from injury or other damage to your nervous system or spine. You can tell your pain is nerve-related if you experience some or all of the following painful or uncomfortable sensations:

Nerve pain is different from other sources of pain and often requires specialist care to keep it from interfering with your life. 

Our team can prescribe cutting-edge treatments, such as spinal cord stimulation, that are highly effective for nerve pain and are only available from an interventional pain management team.

You’re self-medicating to control pain

Taking over-the-counter (OTC) medication is a common response if you’re in pain. This can be effective for short-term problems, but chronically using medication or other substances, such as alcohol, to numb pain can cause long-term problems.

OTC medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are safe when taken correctly, but they can become dangerous quickly if you take them incorrectly or too frequently. Your risk of taking too much of these medications, or not taking them correctly, goes up when you use them constantly.

Using nonprescribed medicines can also interfere with and cause problematic reactions with other medication you’ve been prescribed. Ultimately, it’s usually safer and more effective to try other treatments for chronic pain.

Our team focuses on chronic pain solutions that are nonaddictive and don’t require taking medication long-term.

Getting specialist chronic pain help can have you feeling better, sleeping well, and living a fuller life. Instead of suffering one more day with chronic pain, contact us to make an appointment with a specialist.

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