Chronic pain is pain lasting longer than three months. It can be the trigger of other stressors, not just the pain itself. Think of lower back pain, avoiding things like treadmills at the gym, aerobic exercises, mowing the lawn, a to-do list at the office. You may have chronic pain if you or someone close to you notices psychological and emotional differences, anxiety, mood swings, eating syndromes, and other related troubles.
Your back is an essential muscle, so don’t take it for granted. Carrying your body weight all day is a testament to its strength and flexibility, but if you don’t take care of it you may end up with temporary (acute) or chronic back pain. The spine, which runs from the base of your skull all the way down to your pelvis, is critical in protecting your back and how your nervous system functions.
For people with chronic pain syndrome, pain is their daily reality. In some cases, there may have been a clear cause for the pain. In other cases, the cause may be a mystery. But either way, the pain persists and may continue to do so for weeks, months or years. Just to add a bit of insult to injury research is now suggesting that pain may actually contribute to hypertension – otherwise known as high blood pressure. But can that be? Can chronic pain cause high blood pressure? That’s what we’re here to find out.
