Summary
- Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons for seeing a primary care physician.
- Classification of chronic pain may be based on major pain features or by body region: myofascial, musculoskeletal (mechanical), neuropathic, fibromyalgia, and chronic headache syndromes.
- One in 3 patients over the age of 65 years is affected by chronic pain, often due to arthritis, osteoporosis with fractures and/or lumbar spinal stenosis. These conditions are treatable and should not be considered part of the normal ageing process. Untreated chronic pain in geriatric patients can result in depression, poor quality of life, and loss of independence.
- Some treatments, such as stretching exercises, relaxation techniques, antidepressants, and antiepileptic drugs, are beneficial for a wide variety of chronically painful conditions.
- About 25% to 30% of chronic pain patients treated with opioids will demonstrate medicine abuse behaviour.
Other related conditions
- Assessment of upper extremity mononeuropathy
- Epicondylitis
- Tendinopathy
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Osteoporosis
- Osteomalacia
- Wrist fractures
- Osteoporotic spinal compression fractures
- Overview of musculoskeletal pain
- Assessment of back pain
- Assessment of neck pain
- Assessment of abdominal pain in pregnancy
- Assessment of chronic abdominal pain
- Musculoskeletal lower back pain
- Chronic pelvic pain in women
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Herpes zoster infection
- Herpes zoster infection
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Assessment of polyneuropathy
- Assessment of lower extremity mononeuropathy
- Assessment of cranial nerve mononeuropathy
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Temporomandibular joint syndrome
- Spinal stenosis
- Degenerative cervical spine disease
- Discogenic low back pain
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Assessment of acute headache
- Migraine headache in adults
- Tension-type headache
- Cluster headache
- Subdural haematoma
- Opioid use disorder
- Angle-closure glaucoma
- Open-angle glaucoma
- Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies
- Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies
- Fibromyalgia
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- Sjogren's syndrome
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Giant cell arteritis
- Overview of diabetes
- Primary hyperparathyroidism
- Overview of thyroid dysfunction
- Primary hypothyroidism
- Central hypothyroidism
- Hepatitis C
- Lyme disease
- Multiple myeloma
- Depression in adults
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Personality disorders
- Overview of chronic alcoholism
- HIV infection
Last updated: Nov 29, 2012
