Is chronic pain starting to impact your daily life? You're not alone. In fact, pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical attention.

About 50 million US adults now suffer from chronic pain. High-impact pain (which interferes with work or everyday activities) affects 20 million adults.

Don't let your chronic pain impact your quality of life. If these seven pain signs sound familiar, it's time to seek help. Going to a professional could help you put an end to your chronic pain.

They can help by developing a customized treatment plan based on the root cause of your symptoms.

Don't ignore these warnings that it's time to visit a pain doctor. Instead, read on to discover the signs you need to schedule an appointment today.

1. The Pain Persists

Many people become so accustomed to their chronic muscle pain or back pain that they start to ignore it. If your pain persists beyond a few weeks, consider visiting a doctor. Chances are, the pain isn't going to fade on its own.

Waiting to seek help could waste valuable time. In fact, your pain might even get worse.

Remember, chronic pain can impact your ability to complete certain activities. It might start to impact your quality of life as a result.

For example, you might struggle to play with your kids or grandchild. You might struggle to get through a day of work, too. You might even start calling in sick, impacting your income.

If you continue calling in sick due to chronic pain, consider going to a professional. Otherwise, you might find yourself out of a job soon enough.

Visiting a pain management doctor will help you realize the root cause of your symptoms. Your pain doctor can help determine the best course of treatment for easing your symptoms. They can also help you determine if there are lifestyle changes you need to make.

For example, they might suggest you add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet like garlic and turmeric. They might recommend supplements, exercises, or changing your work environment.

You might want to consider switching to a standing desk or ergonomic chair to improve your posture.

Even repeating the same motions over time (while playing sports or working) can cause muscle pain and other symptoms.

Going to a professional can keep the pain from persisting further.

2. It's Painful to Move

In some cases, your pain can get worse when you move. These pain signs could indicate you need to visit a professional. Look for a board-certified pain specialist in your area.

Let them know which specific movements are making your pain worse or better.

Keep a record of the symptoms you experience in the meantime. For example, perhaps you experience a tingling sensation when you move. Maybe you only notice the pain after sitting for long periods of time.

Let your pain specialist know about the symptoms you've experienced in the past.

They'll use your notes to determine where the pain is coming from. For example, they might use selective nerve-rooting blocking techniques. Some specialists use pain mapping.

Understanding the root cause of your pain can help your doctor develop your customized treatment plan.

3. Pain Impacts Daily Activities

One of the biggest pain indications you might experience is changes in your daily routine. For example, you might find your mobility and range of motion have changed. Perhaps your pain is making it difficult for you to complete specific activities.

Remember, chronic muscle or back pain could impact your ability to work, too.

You might also struggle to remain physically active. Exercising could ease your pain, though.

If you find yourself no longer able to enjoy your favorite activities, consider going to a professional pain specialist.

4. Medications Don't Help

After a while, over-the-counter pain medications won't work as effectively as they did in the past. Your body might develop a tolerance over time. You shouldn't have to rely on over-the-counter painkillers to ease your symptoms, though.

If medications aren't working anymore, consider these pain signs and visit a specialist.

In fact, relying on medications could become dangerous. You might develop an addiction or begin experiencing side effects.

Your pain specialist can help you find a solution that doesn't require over-the-counter medications. You can also combine their treatment plan with holistic options like acupuncture or physical therapy. Finding the right combination of treatments can ease your pain without painkillers.

5. You Want to Avoid Surgery

If your symptoms are bad enough, a physician might recommend surgery. Unfortunately, surgery is often costly. It also comes with a long list of side effects.

You might find yourself out of work while you heal, too.

If a doctor recommends surgery and you want to avoid it, consider visiting a pain specialist instead. Let them know about the pain signs and symptoms you're experiencing. They might offer a solution outside of surgery.

Their treatments can help you get back to your daily life without surgery interrupting your routine.

6. Pain is Affecting Your Sleep

You need about seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Otherwise, sleep deprivation can cause:

• High blood pressure
• Mood swings
• Increased risk of an accident
• Weight gain
• Poor balance
• Increased risk of diabetes or heart disease
• Weakened immunity
• Difficulty concentrating

Pain could impact your ability to fall asleep each night. If you're not getting enough sleep, it could impact your daily routine.

Talk to a pain specialist if you're struggling to get enough sleep. Take these warnings seriously. Otherwise, your health could continue to deteriorate.

7. The Pain is Radiating

You might notice your pain is radiating over your leg, arm, or entire body. Some patients begin experiencing numbness or tingling sensations.

If your symptoms are starting to change, talk to a pain specialist right away.

Get Help: 7 Pains Signs That Indicate You Need to Visit a Pro

You don't have to live life in pain. If these pain signs sound familiar, consider going to a professional pain specialist right away. They'll help by developing a customized treatment plan based on your needs.

They can put an end to your chronic pain, improving your quality of life for years to come.

Eager to speak with a specialist? We're here to help.

Contact us today to schedule your appointment.

Did you know that upwards of 20 million people suffer from nerve pain? Most people don't know the differences between muscle pain vs nerve pain. Many times this leads to chronic issues or undetermined causes.

Nerve pain is something that often has an unidentifiable cause. Knowing the differences between them helps aid in pain management and improving your quality of life.

Keep reading on to better understand the differences between muscle and nerve pain.

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain is often interchangeable with muscle soreness. Depending on how severe your pain is, you might classify it one way or the other.

In general - this type of pain is caused by injury to one or more muscle groups. Injuries is a very loose term because many people often can't recall a specific scenario where they injured themselves.

If you are an athlete, it is typically much easier to see what caused the injury. However, for the majority of the population, it is often more subtle.

Some causes of muscle aches and pain are:

• Stress
• Muscle tension
• Overuse of muscle groups
• Injury during an activity or sport

Having too much muscle tension in one area leads to problems in another area. For example, tight hamstrings often lead to low back pain - this is because the hamstring muscle groups attach to your pelvis. Additionally, many causes of low back pain aren't necessarily from injuring your low back - although that is one of the reasons.

Sometimes poor posture, collapsed arches in your feet, and hip problems lead to back problems. There is also a whole other world that creates muscle pain. These are classified under more complex medical diagnoses.

Some medical problems that lead to discomfort in your muscles are:

• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Lupus
• Medication abuse
• Infections

When To See a Doctor

When should you see someone about muscle aches? For one, if your pain is debilitating and not going away with rest and proper exercise, then you should see a doctor.

Also, if you have pain with indicators of a rash or bite, then you should seek out a physician's opinion. More severe instances that accompany muscle pain are fever, vomiting, severe stiffness, and water retention.

With these sudden changes, it is best to get checked out by a professional to make sure nothing more serious than a simple muscle strain is going on. If you are on medication and notice increasing pain, talk to your physician about prescribing something different.

Nerve Pain

When talking about types of pain, nerve pain often gets mistaken for muscle aches. Damage to nerves leads to this type of pain; however, it is a bit more complex than a muscle strain.

To start, there are two different types of nerves in your body - these are classified as the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. In your central nervous system, you have the nerves in your brain and spinal cord.

The peripheral nerves have two components that work on sending motor and sensory signals from your brain and spinal cord to your extremities. Any of these different parts can be injured. An extreme example is in the case of a spinal cord injury.

With this type of injury, the nerves in the spine are either fully or partially severed. During partial spinal cord injuries, the patient often deals with significant nerve pain.

Symptoms

A lot of nerves in your brain and spinal cord help send signals that manage your heart rate, body temperature, bladder, and blood pressure. Many spinal cord patients suffer from difficulties managing a lot of these automatic controls.

When your peripheral nerves are damaged, it leads to more common symptoms in the population. Some of these include:

• Tingling
• Burning sensation
• Heightened sensitivity
• Weakness
• Muscle twitching

A common diagnosis that leads to nerve pain is diabetes. Some studies estimate that almost three-quarters of people with diabetes will have nerve pain.

Usually, the peripheral nerves are first damaged in people with diabetes that leads to decreased sensation or a burning feeling in the feet. With less sensation, these people are more at risk of having injuries to their feet without noticing it.

There are many other medical diagnoses with this type of pain including:

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Cancer
• ALS
• Lyme Disease
• Infections

Muscle Pain vs Nerve Pain Treatment

Recognizing what type of pain you have is the first step. You briefly read about when to seek medical attention with muscle pain, but what are other treatments?

For muscles, it is best if you rest the muscle group and then ease back into activities and exercise. For an injured extremity, many sports and athletic trainers suggest the acronym R.I.C.E. This stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

If you still aren't seeing relief, then seek out a qualified physician who deals with chronic and acute pain.

Nerve pain is addressed through a couple of different methods. It is typically advised to see a physician before starting a regimen to determine the cause of nerve pain.

Otherwise, some typical treatments include medication, injections, physical therapy, surgery, and acupuncture. Different surgical treatments focus on alleviating pressure from the nerve, or nerve ablation. During this minimally invasive procedure, some of the nerves are removed.

The goal behind this procedure is that reduces the painful stimuli that are sent to the brain.

Seek Help Today

Dealing with pain is debilitating. It leads to missed work, hobbies, and time spent with loved ones. It also impairs quality of life and has the potential to cause other mental health illnesses such as depression.

Knowing the difference between muscle pain vs nerve pain is helpful to recovery.

Don't wait any longer to address your pain. Contact us for a consultation and rest assured that you are in qualified hands to manage your pain once and for all.