Pain explained

Pain is an alarm system that warns us when something maybe wrong in our body and protects us from further harm. For example, if you touch a hot surface, your body feels the pain and instinctively pulls away. The pain, and your body’s reaction, stops you from hurting yourself further.

The nervous system controls everything we do. It constantly gathers information from parts of our body, our thoughts, feelings and memories as well as our surrounding environment, and sends signals throughout the body. Sometimes these signals are pain, warning us to protect ourselves which can change the way we think, feel and act.

Pain can be described as acute or persistent.

Persistent or chronic pain

Most of the time, pain is a normal and useful alarm system. When pain continues for a longer time, the nervous system becomes overly sensitive, and it can change our natural alarm. Like a sensitive car alarm that goes off when a leaf falls on the car. It can take less to trigger pain, or your nervous system may decide you need to feel pain as a warning when the danger isn’t as significant.

Persistent pain is very complex, and everyone experiences it differently. It may occur:

• alongside conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, or fibromyalgia
• after an injury or trauma to the body has healed.

In some cases, the cause is not known. But that doesn’t mean your pain isn’t real.

Living with persistent pain

Pain can impact you physically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially. In turn, our emotional, physical, psychological, and social health can also impact our pain experience, this often has a bigger effect on our pain than we realise.

While everyone’s experience of pain is different, common areas of impact include:

• sleep
• mobility, strength and fitness
• ability to carry out normal tasks and activities at home and work
• social connections and valued relationships
• mental health.

Fear of pain and further injury can change the way you do things, possibly making you less active. Worrying about it can be consuming as you face ongoing uncertainty about your pain daily, which can be frustrating. These behaviours, worries and feelings can then feed into our pain, making pain very difficult to live to with. But there are ways you can actively manage your pain, allowing you to live well and function independently.

Watch stories from young Queenslanders and other Australians living with persistent pain.

Seeking a diagnosis and treatment

Understanding your pain is the first step to helping you manage it, a visit to a GP is a good place to start. They will work with you to investigate your pain and discuss your next steps.

Pain can sometimes be hard to describe. Taking the time to prepare for your initial appointment can help you make the most of your time with your GP or health professional. Read more about preparing to see a health professional to discuss your pain.

Find a GP or pain service close to you.