[From acute to chronic pain (in rheumatic diseases)]

Pain and functional restriction are the main factors leading the patient to the physician. For these patients quality of life is reduced a lot. Pain is a subjective experience and it cannot be objectivated easily. Pain experience lasting more than 3 to 6 months is considered to be chronic. Its causes are individually different and encompass the peripheral nociception, biochemical changes of the neurotransmitters in the spinal range and events in the subcortical and cortical region. For a successful treatment, the proper understanding of the perception and experience of pain is a preliminary condition for the physician and the patient.