Chronic pain (primary and secondary) : NICE guidance summary

Chronic pain represents a complex and often challenging condition in primary care, profoundly impacting patients' lives. Traditionally defined, chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for more than three months, significantly outlasting the normal healing process. Unlike acute pain, which is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert us to possible injury, chronic pain is persistent and can range from mild to severe.

Chronic pain can be classified into two main types: chronic secondary pain and chronic primary pain. Chronic secondary pain is associated with an underlying condition such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, or endometriosis. This type of pain is a symptom of a distinct disease or injury and is often proportional to the severity of the underlying cause.