6 amazing reasons behind chronic pain

Pain is actually meant nicely, because it is a warning signal our body. This acute pain sounds the alarm when there is injury or damage to tissue. And it goes away again when the cause is removed.

What if he stays? Many people have chronic pain. It is difficult to say exactly how many there are, estimates range from around 12 to 23 million people – in Germany alone. Chronic pain is defined as: lasts longer than three to six months and those affected significantly impaired in everyday life. Constant back, head, stomach, muscle or nerve pain – some sufferers learn to come to terms with it. Others do not succeed and are constantly looking for suitable means and measures against the agony. After all, the chronic pain syndrome restricts the as independent disease applies, reduces the quality of life enormously in the long run and reduces the desire for activities, perhaps even making them completely impossible.

In the mass of possible causes, there are also some that initially appear to have no direct connection to an injury. Here are six surprising and rather unknown reasons for chronic pain.

1. Painkillers

I’m sorry, what? What most people don’t realize is that overuse of painkillers can eventually reverse itself. When medication is overused, the tablet that is supposed to help against the symptoms becomes the real problem. This is called analgesics induced or painkiller-induced pain – if, for example, ibuprofen or paracetamol no longer help against the headache, but aggravate it and rekindle it again and again. Very important: Painkillers are only a short-term, acute help and not the solution to the problem.

2. Emotional trauma

Emotional trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression or other mental illnesses, are also significantly related to chronic pain. These usually work mental injuries ahead of chronic pain syndrome. Pain research has found that mental pain activates the same regions in the brain as physical pain and that pain is always somatic (physical) and psychological at the same time. Experts assume that psychological injuries lead to a Disturbance of pain and stress processing to lead. This means these people are more sensitive to stress and pain than others.

3. Shingles

About a third of our population in this country will develop shingles at some point in their lives (herpes zoster). This is a viral disease that Chickenpox pathogen varicella zoster goes back Anyone who has had chickenpox as a child carries this virus for life, because it has the property of remaining in the body and withdrawing to the nerve nodes in the spinal cord after the acute illness has subsided. There it remains silent until a possible trigger, such as stress or an infection, weakens the immune system and the virus reactivates and multiplies rapidly.

It then comes first to non-specific, flu-like symptoms and in the course of the typical Blistering rash with stabbing, burning pain. However, that is not the biggest problem: In up to 30 percent of cases, complications such as these subsequently arise Post herpetic neuralgia – extreme pain that can last for months or even life. The danger can only be contained if the treatment of shingles begins within the first 72 hours. Shingles is always an emergency!

Protection provides a preventive vaccination. The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends it for all people over the age of 60, for people who have an underlying disease (e.g. diabetes, asthma, rheumatism, cancer) or, if shingles runs frequently in the family, from the age of 50. In these cases, the statutory health insurance companies bear the costs for this protective vaccination (see also www.rki.de (Impfungen AZ) or www.impfen.de/guertelrose).

4. Sleep quality

Sleep disorders and pain perception are mutually dependent. This means that those who are in pain sleep poorly and those who sleep poorly have more severe pain. But how does this vicious circle come about? An American study at the University of California in Berkeley was able to prove that lack of sleep disrupts pain processing in the brain. Without enough sleep, we become more prone to pain.

Deep sleep is the time of the day when your muscles regenerate. Those who sleep little prevent this process, reduce the pain threshold and increase sensitivity. Even slight stimuli can trigger severe pain. For this reason, it is particularly important for patients with chronic pain to pay attention to their sleep quality and, if necessary, to place themselves in the hands of experienced sleep medicine specialists.

5. Fibromyalgia

Fibro… what? Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that belongs to the rheumatic diseases. It begins with widespread pain all over the body, mainly in the muscles (translated from Latin, the name fibromyalgia means fiber-muscle pain). There are also fatigue, sleep disorders and skin problems.

The problem with this pain syndrome: It is rarely recognizedbecause it not detectable in the blood is and also no changes in muscles, bones or joints are. Science has not yet agreed on the cause of fibromyalgia. It is possible that the pain processing in the brain is disturbed.

6. Magnesium deficiency

Almost nothing in the body works without magnesium. A lack of this important mineral therefore has a number negative consequences on various organs and bodily functions – especially if it is not discovered immediately. Magnesium controls the transmission of excitation in nerve and muscle cells and reduces the release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. A lack of the mineral therefore means that we are restless and exhausted. And that in turn leads to tension headaches, fatigue and migraines. Studies now show that an additional Magnesium intake can reduce the risk of migraines.

Sources:

Bridget