The Different Types of Pain

Acute pain starts suddenly, is predictable and fades as you heal (usually under 12 weeks). Chronic pain lasts beyond normal healing time (over 12 weeks). Beware: pain that keeps coming back because you keep irritating the area is often repeated acute pain—not chronic pain—and responds well to modifying the aggravating activity and following the three phases.

Comes from muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints or bone. It switches on and off with certain positions, is sharp when you stress a fresh injury and dull while healing, and stays in one clear spot.

Comes from an irritated or injured nerve. It feels like numbness, burning, tingling or electric shocks, and it travels along the nerve's path—the worse it gets, the further it travels. Sciatica and carpal tunnel syndrome are common examples.

Radicular pain travels down a nerve. Referred pain comes from an organ—like heart pain felt in the left arm or a kidney stone felt in the back. Referred pain does not change with movement and does not improve with rehab, so pain without an injury should be checked by a doctor.

Chronic pain is the alarm system itself misfiring—the pain is real but no longer matches what the tissues are doing. It is vague, can spread, changes in quality and can be set off by stress, touch or temperature. After serious causes are ruled out, recovery uses movement plus sleep, diet and stress management.

Low back pain can be mechanical (a lifting strain), neuropathic (sciatica) or chronic—and a person can have more than one at once.