Types of pain

Pain is your body’s way of telling you something’s not right. In the short term, pain can be helpful – like when you touch something hot or injure yourself, it’s your body’s signal to protect that area. But sometimes, pain hangs around longer, and that’s when it becomes a different story.

You might hear pain described as acute or chronic. These words aren’t about how bad the pain is – they describe how long the pain lasts.

• Acute pain starts quickly and usually goes away as you heal. Think of a sprained ankle or a burn – your body sends a quick warning to rest or pull away.
• Chronic pain is described by doctors as pain that lasts longer than three months. If you’re living with arthritis or gout, you may already know this kind of pain. But chronic pain can also come from other causes – so it’s important to find out what’s going on, rather than just putting it down to arthritis or ageing.

When pain sticks around, it can take a toll – not just on your body, but also on your energy, your mood, your wairua (spirit), and your confidence. You might notice:

• Muscle tension
• Feeling tired all the time
• Low mood or feeling down
• A lack of motivation

Pain can come from different places in your body

• Inflammation in your joints
• Tension in muscles around a sore joint
• Mechanical pain from damage to the joint or around the joint
• Nerve pain – a joint can pinch a nerve
• Some pain comes directly from the nerves without there being any actual damage, or from the brain amplifying the feelings of pain

Our understanding of pain is changing all the time, and knowing more about where pain comes from can help you manage pain.

The words you use to describe your pain really matter. They help your doctor or health professional figure out what kind of pain you’re dealing with, and what kind of treatment might work best for you.

Here are some words you might find helpful:

• burning, cold, freezing, stinging
• constant aching, dull ache, tender
• cramping, gnawing, gripping, nagging, squeezing, throbbing
• deep or surface
• deep in your bones
• electric shocks, spasms, stabbing, splitting, shooting, sharp
• heavy, pressure, intense
• numbness
• pins and needles, prickly, tingling
• tiring or exhausting  

Your doctor will also want to know: 

• how long you’ve had the pain
• how often your pain occurs
• if there is anything that makes it worse or better
• where you feel the pain
• whether your pain is in one spot or spread out
• if your pain comes and goes or is constant 

Keeping a pain diary for a few days or weeks can really help. You can jot down:

• when the pain happens
• what it feels like
• what you were doing at the time
• what helped ease it

Be sure to use words that best describe the type of pain you feel. When you are in constant pain, it is easy to think you “hurt everywhere and all the time.” Despite feeling true, this is not helpful for the doctor to work out how to best help you.