Chronic Pain

Full range of treatment settings and their effects on radiofrequency heat lesion size

Changing the parameters used to deliver radiofrequency (RF) treatment greatly affects the size of the resulting heat lesion, researchers reported today in a study expected to deliver greater precision and more treatment options ...

Cancer created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New techniques reduce the complications of spinal cord stimulator implant

Two innovative techniques in the placement of an implanted spinal cord stimulator (SCS) are expected to reduce common complications at the implant site, according to new research revealed today. Results from a case series ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Severely injured vets may need ongoing emotional care

(HealthDay)—U.S. veterans who suffered major limb injuries in combat showed little improvement with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the two ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

First objective measure of pain discovered in brain scan patterns

For the first time, scientists have been able to predict how much pain people are feeling by looking at images of their brains, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Neuroscience created Apr 10, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Chronic pain ranks well below drug addiction as a major health problem in new poll

A new national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America shows only 18% of respondents believe chronic pain is a major health problem, even though a majority of Americans (63%) say they know someone who experienced ...

Medications created Apr 09, 2013 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study finds that hot and cold senses interact

A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, ...

Neuroscience created Apr 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Lessons from the long-lived: Researcher says the elderly are pragmatic 'masters and mistresses of resilience'

Not long ago, Karl Pillemer had a revelation. A gerontologist with close to 30 years of experience, Pillemer, who is director of the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging, realized that his ...

Health created Apr 05, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Chronic pain common complication of clot-caused strokes

Chronic or persistent pain is a common—and likely under-recognized—complication of ischemic strokes (caused by a blocked blood vessel) according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Cardiology created Apr 04, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study identifies co-factors critical to PTSD development

Research led by Ya-Ping Tang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that the action of a specific gene occurring during exposure to adolescent trauma ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Targeting mental defeat among pain patients could prevent anxiety and depression

(Medical Xpress)—A new study of Hong Kong chronic pain patients suggests that targeting feelings of mental defeat could prevent severe depression, anxiety and interference with daily activities.

Health created Apr 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gaps exist in brain injury knowledge among veterans

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found that only 1 in 5 veterans reported receiving brain injury education while serving in the military. The researchers, whose ...

Health created Mar 29, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Major health benefits of music uncovered

(Medical Xpress)—In the first large-scale review of 400 research papers in the neurochemistry of music, a team led by Prof. Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University's Psychology Dept. has been able to show ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 28, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Pinning down the pain: Schwann cell protein plays major role in neuropathic pain

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, says a key protein in Schwann cells performs a critical, perhaps overarching, role in ...

Neuroscience created Mar 27, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Relieving chronic pain

A new, implantable device for treating chronic pain passes an important safety test.

Medical research created Mar 25, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Charges thrown out against US right-to-die leader

(AP)—A judge dismissed charges against the former leader of a U.S. right-to-die group accused in the death of a Minnesota woman, ruling that the state law against advising suicide is unconstitutionally overbroad.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 23, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1


Chronic pain is pain that has lasted for a long time. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain has traditionally been determined by an arbitrary interval of time since onset; the two most commonly used markers being 3 months and 6 months since onset, though some theorists and researchers have placed the transition from acute to chronic pain at 12 months. Others apply acute to pain that lasts less than 30 days, chronic to pain of more than six months duration, and subacute to pain that lasts from one to six months. A popular alternative definition of chronic pain, involving no arbitrarily fixed durations is "pain that extends beyond the expected period of healing."

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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