[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER: Everyone gets aches
and pains now and then.
But when the pain lasts for six
months or more, or is constantly
reoccurring, it's considered
chronic pain.
Chronic pain
is different from acute pain,
which is your body's
normal response to an injury
or illness.
You feel pain when
special sensory nerve cells send
signals to your spinal cord
and brain.
Once the cause of an injury
or illness is treated,
the acute pain goes away.
But chronic pain doesn't.
With chronic pain, pain signals
continue to fire
in your nervous system
for weeks, months, even years.
Sometimes people suffer
from chronic pain
without any previous injury
or illness.
If you have chronic pain,
you're not alone.
At least 100 million Americans
experience some form of it.
The most common sources are
headaches, lower back pain,
and arthritis.
For many, chronic pain
can be debilitating and affect
day-to-day living.
Talk to your doctor
about treatment options,
so you can enjoy life and keep
the pain to a minimum.
