Putting pain into perspective
According to the British Pain Society, health professionals use different terms for different types of pain.
Short-term pain is called acute pain – from a sprained ankle, for instance, whilst long-term pain is called persistent or chronic pain – resulting from back trouble or arthritis, for example. Pain that comes and goes is called recurrent or intermittent pain – such as tooth ache.
Many acute pains are like an alarm indicating that something is wrong. Most minor ones are easy to treat; others may be a sign of something more serious. For example the pain of a broken leg will enforce rest until it heals. Here the pain is helping.