Chronic Vs Acute Pain In Dogs: What Is The Difference?

Many people think of chronic pain in the same way they think of acute pain. However, in reality, there is a world of difference between the two.

Let’s start out with a basic definition of both terms.

Acute pain is the type of sudden, very real, and sometimes a very severe type of pain. It results from something like a sudden injury.  Though the pain may be extreme, it is usually short-lived comparatively.

Chronic pain, on the other hand, is pain that lasts for a long time.  There may be frequent recurrences in cases of chronic pain also.

Chronic pain is not acute pain that lasts a long time

This is an important concept to understand. Chronic pain and acute pain are totally different from one another. This point was driven home for me recently when I attended a lecture presented by Dr. William Tranquilli at the 2011 Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association annual veterinary conference. Dr. Tranquilli spoke at length about pain and various methods of pain control.

Understanding chronic pain

Here’s what you need to understand about chronic pain.

Chronic pain is actually associated with a dysfunctional nervous system. For dogs (and people) that suffer chronic pain, the nervous system is actually not functioning as it should.

Where does pain come from?

The concept of pain is a complicated one. There are actually many different types of pain.

• maladaptive pain ⁠— he concepts of normal physiology cannot explain why the pain is present
• peripheral pain ⁠— occurs as a result of damage or inflammation to the painful area
• neuropathic pain ⁠— the pain is due to damaged or entrapped nerves
• central pain ⁠— a disturbance in the pain processing pathways that exist in the central nervous system

I mention these not because I think they’re important for the average dog owner to know about. It does demonstrate how complex the issue of pain is.

Pain can outlive tissue injury

Traditional thinking about chronic pain blames its existence on damage to tissues.

The severity of pain experienced is not necessarily a function of the amount of pathology present. It is instead based on how the central nervous system processes this pain.

In cases of chronic pain where the central nervous system may not function as it would normally, pain may be perceived as much worse than what would be expected based solely on the degree of damage to the tissues involved.

In other words, a dog with arthritis may actually be feeling more pain than we would suspect merely by looking at the changes we are able to see in that dog’s joints.

Genetic predisposition to pain?

Interestingly, Dr. Tranquilli also talked about the concept that there may even be a genetic predisposition for chronic pain. Apparently, in people, various genes have been identified as being involved in the appearance of fibromyalgia, a disease that is caused by overactive nerves. In addition, chronic pain has also been associated with many other disease processes in people, including depression.

Treating Chronic Pain in Dogs

Because chronic pain differs so much from acute pain, a different approach to treatment is sometimes necessary as well.

Dogs that are suffering from chronically painful conditions may actually be experiencing abnormally heightened sensitivity to pain. This is a condition known as hyperalgesia. As a result, Dr. Tranquilli believes that medications that can inhibit the central nervous system’s pain response may be helpful for these dogs. He concludes:

“Adjunctive drugs such as gabapentin, amantidine, tramadol and even low dose opioid therapy that target the altered neurobiology of chronic pain can be initiated early on in therapy if base analgesic therapy is considered wanting or later when non drug techniques are becoming less effective.”

In real life, we see conditions that cause chronic pain in our dogs on a regular basis.

Things like arthritis, hip dysplasia, and many other conditions can cause chronic pain for our dogs. With a better understanding of the reasons behind the pain that dogs feel comes the potential for better, safer and more effective ways to treat them.

Related articles:
Recognizing Signs of Pain in Dogs: How Do I Tell My Dog Is Hurting?
Pain Management For Dogs: Types of Pain Medications for Dogs And What They Do

Further reading:
Types of Pain