The results suggest that chronic pain deserves a place in how the country prepares people for extreme weather. What High-Impact Pain MeansResearchers use the term high-impact chronic pain for pain lasting at least three months that limits what a person can do: work, socializing and self-care. Feinuo Sun writes that farmers and ranchers have to be out in the heat, and chronic pain can’t slow them down. Extreme heat was split by geography and by wealth:For urban residents, sustained heat showed no link to developing new pain. Those who could get out of the heat were least likely to report feeling new chronic pain.