What is acute pain? and what is chronic pain?
Acute = sudden
Chronic = over time
Acute pain can become chronic pain and chronic pain can experience acute pain. If that sentence is a bit confusing, hopefully this blog will help clear things up for you.
Acute pain is the initial onset of pain and inflammation that occurs as a result of trauma or injury.
Injuries to different structures in our body require different healing times. One of the factors that contribute to the speed of healing time is blood flow. Skin has fantastic blood flow and therefore, tends to heal quicker than a disc injury, that has less blood flow directly into the structure.
Skin = 1-6 weeks
Muscle = grade 1: 1-4 weeks, grade 2: 3-12 weeks, grade 3: 1-6 months
Ligament = grade 1: 2-8 weeks, grade 2: 2-6 months, grade 3: 6-12 months
Tendon = 3-7 weeks
Fact joint = 2-4 weeks
Disc = bulge: 3-6 months, herniation: 6-12 months
Bone = 6 weeks - 12 months
When injuries heal within their standard time, they are considered acute injuries. When an injury exceeds this time, we consider it to be chronic. Therefore, a chronic muscle injury looks different than a chronic disc injury.
Factors that can contribute to an acute injury becoming chronic:
- continuing to perform aggravating movements
- stretching/strengthening exercises
- previous injuries
- hydration
- surgery
- sleep
- exercise
- blood flow/lymphatic drainage
- autoimmune conditions
- diabetes
- smoking
- alcohol consumption
- weight/nutrition/gut health
- medication
- age/gender
- stress