Maybe you’ve twisted your ankle, caught the flu or just cut a simple paper, but (tiny but boy, do they hurt!). You most likely experience redness, warmth and swelling, which means your body’s emergency response system has been triggered. Symptoms of inflammation are your body’s way of defending itself and starting the healing process. But when inflammation doesn’t go away or flares up again and again, it can become a major source of ongoing pain, fatigue and emotional distress.
Understanding how inflammation and chronic pain are connected can help you take control of your symptoms and improve your long-term health.
Inflammation 101: Your Body’s Built-In Alarm System
Inflammation is how your immune system responds when it senses an invader, such as germs, chemicals, or even an injury.[1] Think of it as a built-in alarm system designed to call in reinforcements to heal and protect the body.
There are two main types of inflammation:
- Acute inflammation happens quickly, usually within hours of an injury or illness. It’s short-term and usually helpful. For example, if you sprain your ankle, immune cells rush in to repair tissue and prevent infection, causing swelling and pain that fades as you heal [2]
- Chronic inflammation develops when your body stays in “defense mode” long after the original problem has healed. This ongoing inflammation can damage healthy tissues and contribute to conditions like arthritis, back pain, and autoimmune disease [1]
While short-term inflammation helps the body recover, long-term inflammation can slowly wear it down.
How Chronic Inflammation Affects Your Body and Well-Being
When inflammation sticks around longer than it should, the same immune chemicals that once helped your body heal can begin to do more harm than good. Over time, this ongoing inflammation can damage healthy tissues, joints, and nerves, leading to persistent pain and stiffness, especially in your muscles, joints, and back.[3] It can also affect your brain chemistry, causing fatigue, mood changes, and even increasing the risk of depression and anxiety.[4]
Chronic inflammation can also weaken your immune system, making it harder for your body to fight off new infections.[5] Long-term inflammation doesn’t just cause pain; it can drain your energy, disrupt your sleep, and take a serious toll on your mental health, ultimately impacting your overall quality of life.
Why Does Inflammation Trigger Chronic Pain?
Pain and inflammation share many of the same pathways in the body. When tissues are inflamed, immune cells release substances like cytokines and prostaglandins that increase sensitivity in pain nerves.[6] Over time, this repeated stimulation can “train” the nervous system to stay on high alert, even after the original injury has healed.[7]
So what does that mean, exactly? Simply put, inflammation tricks your nervous system into continually sending pain signals even when there’s no active damage which is one of the hallmarks of chronic pain.[8]
Common Conditions Where Inflammation and Pain Go Hand-in-Hand
Many chronic pain conditions are rooted in ongoing inflammation, including:
- Arthritis and autoimmune diseases (like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus) where the immune system attacks healthy joints and tissues [9]
- Fibromyalgia, which research suggests may involve low-grade systemic inflammation [10]
- Back and nerve pain, especially when inflammation compresses or irritates nerve roots [11]
- Headache disorders and migraines, which can be triggered by inflammatory responses in blood vessels and brain tissues [10]
The Cycle Continues: When Your Pain Fuels More Inflammation
Here’s where things can get tricky: pain itself can create more inflammation. When you’re in constant pain, your body releases stress hormones and inflammatory chemicals that can worsen tissue irritation and nerve sensitivity.[12]
This creates a feedback loop where inflammation causes pain, and pain triggers even more inflammation; making symptoms harder to break without professional help.[6]
Simple Ways to Reduce Inflammation and Manage Pain
The good news is that there are practical steps you can take to improve your health, calm inflammation and ease your chronic pain.
- Stay active. Gentle movement like walking, yoga, or swimming to improve circulation and reduce stiffness
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet rich in colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and omega-3 fats [13]
- Get quality sleep. Your body uses sleep to repair damaged tissues and regulate immune function [8]
- Manage stress with mindfulness, breathing exercises, or counseling to prevent stress-related inflammation [4]
- Work with a pain specialist to explore safe, targeted therapies that calm inflammation and improve function.
Do I Need a Pain Management Doctor for Chronic Inflammation?
It’s time to see a pain management specialist if your pain and inflammation isn’t managed or it’s interfering with your life. Pain management physicians don’t just treat your symptoms; they look for the actual cause of your inflammation and pain.
Your pain specialist will perform a thorough exam, identify underlying conditions and design a personalized treatment plan. The goal is to calm inflammation, improve mobility and restore your quality of life using a multidisciplinary approach. Depending on your specific needs, your treatment may include targeted injections, nerve blocks, physical therapy, regenerative medicine combined with nutrition guidance, talk therapy and lifestyle changes. Team-based care helps address the whole body, not just the pain.
Chronic inflammation can feel like a cycle that’s hard to break on your own, but you don’t have to live with daily pain and fatigue. Working with an experienced pain specialist can help you take back control, reduce inflammation safely, and get back to doing the things you enjoy most.
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you experience sudden, severe pain, swelling, shortness of breath, chest pain, high fever, or any new or worsening symptoms, seek emergency medical care right away.
Resources:
- Inflammation. Cleveland Clinic [Internet]. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21660-inflammation
- How acute inflammation turns chronic. Harvard Health [Internet]. Published June 17, 2021. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/how-acute-inflammation-turns-chronic
- Chronic Pain. Cleveland Clinic [Internet]. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4798-chronic-pain
- Backman I. Inflammation May Be the Link Between Chronic Pain and Depression. Yale School of Medicine [Internet]. Published April 9, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/inflammation-may-be-the-link-between-chronic-pain-and-depression/
- In brief: What is inflammation? [Internet]. InformedHealth.org: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) [Internet]; 2006-. In brief: What is inflammation? Updated 2025 Apr 11. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279298/
- Matsuda M, Huh Y, Ji RR. Roles of inflammation, neurogenic inflammation, and neuroinflammation in pain. J Anesth. 2019;33(1):131-139. doi:10.1007/s00540-018-2579-4 Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6813778/
- Silva Santos Ribeiro P, Willemen HLDM, Eijkelkamp N. Mitochondria and sensory processing in inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Frontiers in Pain Research. 2022;3. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.1013577 Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.1013577/full
- Manske S. The Microbiome’s Role in Chronic Pain and Inflammation. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2024;23(4):10-15. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11441585/
- Omoigui S. The biochemical origin of pain: the origin of all pain is inflammation and the inflammatory response. Part 2 of 3 – inflammatory profile of pain syndromes. Med Hypotheses [Internet]. 2007;69(6):1169-1178. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.06.033. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2771434/
- Zhou WBS, Meng J, Zhang J. Does Low Grade Systemic Inflammation Have a Role in Chronic Pain?. Front Mol Neurosci [Internet]. 2021;14:785214. Published 2021 Nov 10. doi:10.3389/fnmol.2021.785214 Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8631544
- Schomberg D, Ahmed M, Miranpuri G, Olson J, Resnick DK. Neuropathic pain: role of inflammation, immune response, and ion channel activity in central injury mechanisms. Ann Neurosci [Internet]. 2012;19(3):125-132. doi:10.5214/ans.0972.7531.190309 Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4117080/
- Crespo-Pardo L, Taboada-Iglesias Y. Inflammatory mediators: its connection with chronic pain and associated problems. Review Revista de la Sociedad Española del Dolor [Internet]. Published online 2021. doi:https://doi.org/10.20986/resed.2021.3841/2020 Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/dolor/v28n1/en_1134-8046-dolor-28-01-00037.pdf
- Yu X, Pu H, Voss M. Overview of anti-inflammatory diets and their promising effects on non-communicable diseases. Br J Nutr [Internet]. 2024;132(7):898-918. doi:10.1017/S0007114524001405. Accessed October 10, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11576095/
