With September being National Pain Management Month, it’s important to identify the different kinds of pain that there are.

Pain Management Provider with Guthrie County Hospital Chris Hanson says that there is a distinction they try to make when diagnosing pain, including acute or subacute that is less than eight weeks, while chronic pain lasts longer than eight weeks. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio some things they inquire from patients to find out what they need to do to help them.

“That’s part of our assessment component, and we try and ask people what activities normally would induce the pain that you’re experiencing. Are there certain times of day that you notice it the most, or if there’s certain activities that you’re participating in that induce that pain, and do you feel it in a certain location where it starts and it radiates, or is there a specific aggravating event that led to the symptoms that you’re having? Did you sustain a fall? Did you have a car accident? Did you have some sort of a work-related incident that initiated some of that pain?”

Hanson mentions that his office works mainly with adult patients that have chronic pain, but that they also do see some patients with acute or subacute pain. He adds that he normally recommends that children see a pediatrician, as those providers specialize in treating youth.