Understanding the Differences Between Acute and Chronic Pain and Factors Contributing to Pain Persistence

Pain manifests in two main forms: acute and chronic, and understanding the differences between them is essential for improving treatment strategies. Recent research highlights that the brain’s response to pain varies significantly depending on the duration of the pain.

When experiencing short-term or acute pain, the brain has an innate mechanism to suppress pain signals, akin to applying a brake to prevent overwhelming pain sensation. This natural braking system involves neural processes that reduce the activity of pain-related neurons, allowing for recovery once the injury or cause of pain subsides.

However, in chronic pain, which persists for months or even years, this braking system malfunctions. The specific brain region responsible, the medullary dorsal horn, contains neurons that relay pain signals to the brain. In acute pain, these neurons become less active, helping control pain intensity. Conversely, in chronic pain, these neurons increase their activity and become hyperexcitable, contributing to ongoing pain sensations.

A crucial factor in this process is a component called the A‑type potassium current (IA), which normally helps regulate neuron excitability. During acute pain, IA increases, tempering neuron activity. In chronic pain, this current fails to ramp up, resulting in heightened neural excitability and persistent pain. These findings suggest that restoring or mimicking the natural braking mechanism could be a promising approach to treat or prevent chronic pain.

This research was conducted by a team led by Dr. Ben Title and Prof. Alexander M. Binshtok from The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine. Their studies, published in Science Advances, shed light on how the nervous system’s internal controls are disrupted in long-term pain conditions. Understanding these differences is a significant step toward developing smarter pain therapies that target the underlying biological processes.

Chronic pain affects over 50 million people in the United States alone and often lacks effective treatment options. By uncovering how pain regulation fails in the brain, scientists hope to create more precise interventions that can prevent pain from becoming unmanageable. This research paves the way for innovative treatments that could restore the brain’s natural ability to modulate pain and improve quality of life for millions.

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-acute-chronic-pain.html