Pain and Pain
Management
Pain and Pain Management
In this Unit:
• Describing types of Pain
• Describing degrees and locate of Pain
• Comparing things
• Asking and talk about about Pain relief
• Referred Pain and assess Pain
• Communicate Successfully
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Pain
1 Describing Types of Pain
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Pain
Definition
■ Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons.
The discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body.
■ However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awareness of pain; it
also includes perception, the subjective interpretation of the discomfort.
Perception gives information on the pain's location, intensity, and something
about its nature.
■ The various conscious and unconscious responses to both sensation and
perception, including the emotional response, add further definition to the
overall concept of pain.
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Description
■ Pain arises from any number of situations.
■ Injury is a major cause, but pain may also arise from an
illness.
■ It may accompany a psychological condition, such as
depression, or may even occur in the absence of a
recognizable trigger.
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What Is Pain?
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■ The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as an unpleasant
sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.
■ Pain is not just a physical sensation. It is influenced by attitudes, beliefs, personality and
social factors, and can affect emotional and mental wellbeing.
■ Although two people may have the same pain condition, their experience of living with pain
can be vastly different—if you live with pain, you would already know this.
■ There are three main categories of pain: acute, chronic and cancer pain.
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Describing Dergrees and Locate of
Pain
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Why it’s important to describe pain accurately
we can better diagnose you and treat all aspects of the
“biopsychosocial” contributors to your pain, meaning we take into
account how your body, emotions, mind and environment can
influence the kind of pain you feel.
Once we understand what you’re feeling, we can choose a multi-
modal treatment plan that may include physical therapy, medications,
injections, surgery, neuromodulation, a neuropsychologist referral or
other treatment.
Inaccurately describing your pain may lead to misdiagnosis, which
then leads to expensive, unnecessary testing and treatments that
won’t help you.
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What to be prepared to tell your doctor
Our goal is to get a feel for the physical and psychological implications of your pain.
For example, we’ll dive into which activities in your life are limited because of pain,
and how this affects your mood and ability to enjoy everyday life.
So be ready to tell your doctor exactly where in your body you experience pain as
well as whether it radiates elsewhere (down your leg, for example). It also helps to
know the answers to these questions:
Are there activities that make your pain better or worse?
What time of day is your pain better or worse?
What have you tried so far to help? (Medications, creams, physical therapy, surgery,
etc.)
Does it seem like something in particular triggers your pain?
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There are certain descriptors that can help us categorize what you’re feeling.
Think about whether any of these adjectives describes your pain:
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What Is a Pain Scale?
A pain scale is simply a way of rating or quantifying your pain so you can talk
about it with your doctor, other health care professionals, or even your friends and
family. There are many different kinds of pain scales, but a common one is a
numerical scale from 0 to 10. Here, 0 means you have no pain; one to three
means mild pain; four to seven is considered moderate pain; eight and above is
severe pain.
Pain scales are based on self-reported data — that means from you, the patient —
so they are admittedly subjective. Your version of a seven could be someone
else’s idea of a three. But the idea is that they can help compare your own ratings
over time. Is your pain improving or getting worse? Using a pain scale can also
help you and your doctor analyze which factors — a change in physical activity,
say, or a new medication regimen — could be responsible for those changes.
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Types of Pain: How to Recognize and Talk About Them
Understanding the different types of pain can make it easier for you to talk to
your doctor and describe your symptoms. Read on to learn about some of
the main types of pain and how they feel.
• Acute pain • Visceral pain
• Chronic pain • Somatic
• Nociceptive pain • Neuropathic pain
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Locate of the Pain
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Locating and Describing Pain
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Language
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Pain
Managem
ent
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Thanks!
Any questions?
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