How is chronic pain treated?
Chronic pain can be very difficult to treat, and usually involves seeing many different medical professionals who can help you with different aspects of your condition. Many times, patients suffering from chronic pain will require ongoing support in the long-term. The goal is often about managing this pain successfully over time rather than looking for a cure, and is similar to management of other chronic conditions.
As a part of the complete holistic approach managing chronic pain (which usually involves frequent reviews with doctors and allied health professionals, the use of pain-killers, or analgesia, also usually forms a part of the treatment process. Whilst there are many types of pain killers, including ones that you can find over the counter (like paracetamol or ibuprofen) to very strong ones (such as opioids such as oxycodone), many of them can themselves cause side effects and problems for patients.