Generalized Pain
Chronic generalized pain can impact every aspect of your life. Several types of generalized pain include disorders like fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and complex regional pain syndrome. These disorders can interrupt sleep, make it challenging to handle daily tasks, and create stress on professional and personal relationships.
Research done on generalized pain disorders shows that the spinal cord and brain are largely the cause of the significant amount of pain that a patient experiences.
Generalized pain is commonly associated with fibromyalgia syndrome. It’s a disabling and common issue for the public. Fibromyalgia is a medical condition associated with widespread and chronic musculoskeletal pain, as well as cognitive alteration, sleep disturbance, and fatigue.
Some of the risk factors for generalized pain cannot be modified. For instance, age, sex, socioeconomic background, cultural background, history of injury or trauma, and heritable factors can increase the risk but there isn’t much that patients can do to change that.
On the other hand, some risk factors can be modified to lower the risk of experiencing generalized pain like fibromyalgia. Some factors that can be altered include:
- Pain
- Employment status
- Occupational factors
- Mental health
- Nutrition
- Smoking
- Sleep
- Alcohol
- Physical activity
- Obesity
- Other comorbidities
Keep in mind that as several disorders cause generalized pain, the risk factors may vary between them. If you know which problem you have, that can narrow down the factors that could make you more likely to experience chronic pain.
Generalized pain has widespread symptoms and causes discomfort in two or more parts of the body. In some cases, it can cause headaches, stiff joints, insomnia, severe fatigue, and muscle aches. Complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia are the most common causes.
There are several symptoms associated with generalized pain. These may include the following:
- Extreme fatigue
- Excessive reaction to typically non-painful stimulus
- Muscle aches
- Burning, tingling, or numbness in the feet or hand
- Cramps or tenderness
- Back pain, joint pain, or both
The main causes of generalized pain include myalgia, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, neuropathy, and complex regional pain syndrome.
Treatments for generalized pain can vary just as much as their causes. Medical management is a common choice using NSAIDs and other over-the-counter medications. Prescription antidepressants and pain medications may also be a good choice. Heat and cold treatments, physical therapy, and exercise can also help.
In some cases, injections can improve the level of pain. Local electrical stimulation is another option that creates brief pulses to nerve endings to stop the pain. Sometimes, more serious treatment methods are needed, such as surgery. It all depends on what is causing the generalized pain and your specific needs.
At Modern Pain Consultants, we treat every patient as an individual. When choosing the right way to treat your generalized pain, we consider your entire body. We’ll work with you to come up with the perfect treatment plan and help you get back into the enjoyment of life. Reach out to us today to get started.