Your doctor gives you pain pills and tells you to rest, but you do not seem to get any better. There are a variety of reasons for this. The American Pain Society states that if you live in pain for more than three months, you have chronic pain. Pain is now your biggest symptom, your biggest problem. The treatment differences between chronic pain and acute pain are as different as the treatment prescribed by different doctors.
Chronic pain is often less intense than acute pain.
The person with chronic pain does not show the symptomatic increased pulse or respiration rates because the body's response to pain cannot sustain these symptoms for long periods. Acute pain usually follows surgery, trauma or a heart attack. This type of pain is difficult to relieve and, in some cases, does not respond to the medications ordered. People living in acute pain need to rest frequently and, depending on the severity of the pain, might require hospitalization. People with chronic pain, who are still advised to rest in bed, stay home and ingest heavy pain medication and sedatives, are frequently receiving inappropriate treatment from their physicians.