This type of pain is generally intense and short-lived. It is how the body alerts a person to an injury or localized tissue damage. Treating the underlying injury usually resolves acute pain. Acute pain triggers the body’s fight-or-flight mechanism, often resulting in faster heartbeats and breathing rates.

This type of pain persists for 6 months or longer and typically results from long-standing (chronic) medical conditions or damage to the body. Chronic pain can be mild or severe. It can also be either continuous, such as in arthritis, or intermittent, as with migraines. Intermittent pain occurs on repeated occasions but stops in between flares.Chronic pain interrupts our work, our recreation, and our relationships with our families.