What is chronic pain?

Chronic pain is defined as continuous, long-term pain that has lasted for more than six months, or that prolongs after the time that healing would have been thought to have occurred.¹ Chronic pain can also occur when no obvious cause for it can be found; this is thought to be due to changes in the body’s nervous system². 

There are 95 million people living with chronic pain in Europe³, and the total cost to healthcare systems across the EU is estimated to be as high as €300 billion⁴.

Chronic pain can be divided into two classes: nociceptive and neuropathic.² Everyone will experience nociceptive pain at some point and it includes such things like cutting yourself, a burn or an injury. Conversely, neuropathic pain is caused by a problem with nerve pathways, which means the way that the nerve sends pain messages to the brain is affected.⁵

Neuropathic pain is often described as numbness, tingling or like an electric shock.² It is a debilitating condition and although the exact number of people suffering from this (the so-called prevalence) is unknown, some European based studies have estimated it at anywhere between seven to 37 per cent.⁵ It is often under-diagnosed and under-treated.⁵