Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain

Symptoms

  • Burning pain
  • Decreased activity
  • Depression, anxiety, and/or irritability
  • Fatigue
  • Joint pain
  • Loss of stamina and flexibility
  • Muscle aches
  • Sleep problems

Pain doesn’t always work in traditional ways. An injury causing pain that goes away after a period of healing is “acute pain”. But sometimes pain can linger for days, weeks, or even months due to an underlying condition. When pain persists for three months or longer, that is referred to as “chronic pain.”

Chronic pain is a constant discomfort that lasts for 3-6 months (or longer!) despite your best efforts to relieve it. There are several reasons why people may experience chronic pain, and it is the most common reason for seeking medical help. It can greatly hinder your quality of life by limiting your mobility, creating a dependence on prescription drugs, or even causing anxiety and depression. However, this can all be avoided with the help of early treatment.

Most cases of chronic pain stem from the musculoskeletal system. This includes your muscles, joints, bones, and connective tissues. Chronic pain can appear in the form of back pain, joint pain, nerve pain, or headaches. Vineyard Complementary Medicine is a practice of implementing a group of holistic diagnostic and therapeutic disciplines together with conventional medicine. Our physical therapists, occupational therapists, and acupuncturists are highly-trained movement experts who can diagnose physical problems and any underlying structural causes surrounding those problems. They analyze weak areas of the body, focus on places with limited range of motion, and look for any imbalances in gait or standing. All of this helps them identify the underlying causes of chronic pain. If you are interested in relieving your chronic pain through physical therapyoccupational therapy, and acupuncture, contact Vineyard Complementary Medicine, at our Edgartown, MA location on Martha’s Vineyard location on Martha’s Vineyard.