Is The Pain Real or Not?

Abstract

Chronic pain (constant pain lasting 6 months or longer) is a subjective experience, which is influenced by many pre-morbid (before the onset of pain) psychological problems. However, chronic pain often can produce depression, anxiety, and marital difficulties. Although physical examination and other studies, including x-ray studies, 3D-CT, electromyelograms (EMG), nerve conduction velocity studies and MRI in many cases may document an organic basis of chronic back pain, some organic syndromes defy definition by objective tests. This may be a greater problem for women, where physician prejudice can result in a significantly less extensive evaluation of their complaints of back pain. Also, any litigation may influence symptoms and the type of litigation may influence outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to differentiate between “organic” and “functional” (negative physical and laboratory examination) back pain.