Pages

Chronic Pain


Coping and lessening pain

Chronic pain occurs in almost 10 percent of people who had strokes resulting from clots (ischemic strokes).  Usually, this pain is felt on the side that is affected by the stroke and it can develop weeks or months after the stoke itself.

Risk factors for post-stroke pain include:
  • being a woman
  • the severity of stroke
  • alcohol intake
  • recent symptoms of depression
  • diabetes
  • vascular disease of blood vessels supplying the legs
This type of pain is called central post-stroke pain (CPSP), thalamic pain, or central pain syndrome (CPS). CPSP is constant and is caused by the brain misreading normal sensations as pain.  For this reason, over-the-counter pain medicines such as aspirin or Advil do not help.

The following treatments may help with the pain, however:

See also: