Pain is a universal element of the human experience. Everyone, at some point in their lives, experiences pain in one form or another. Pain has numerous causes, effects, and is itself a highly complex biological phenomenon. It also carries with it important emotional and social concerns. Pain cannot be entirely understood within the context of any one field of scientific inquiry. Indeed, it must be examined across a range of disciplines, and furthermore considered in relation to important non-scientific influences, such as emotional responses and social determinants. I conducted my explorations regarding pain with the following question in mind: to what degree is pain subjective? I found several avenues of inquiry to be useful in my explorations: they are (1) the expanding specialty in the medical profession of pain management; (2) pain in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and (3) pain experiences of children. Examining these issues led to the conclusion that pain is in fact a highly subjective phenomenon.
"Chronic pain persists despite the fact that the fact the injury has healed. Pain signals remain active in the nervous system for the prolonged or infinite amount of time. Physical effects include tense muscles, limited mobility, lack of energy, and changes in the appetite. Emotional effects include depression, anger, anxiety, and fear of re-injury"(Cleveland Clinic 2013). Chronic pain can develop from multiple common conditions. These can include; instance migraines, diabetes, IBS, fibroids, and endometri...
This type of pain is classified as nociceptive pain or the normal pain process. It involves four processes that occur continuously: transduction, transmission, perception, and modulation. Neuropathic pain is not as easily understood because it involves damage and dysfunction of nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and/or the central nervous system (CNS) (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016). Most patients describe neuropathic type pain as burning, stabbing, shooting, and/or a feeling pins and needles (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016). This type of pain is hard to treat because of the subjective nature of pain and not all the causes of neuropathic pain are understood. This paper is a review of pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of neuropathic pain management. Three articles were found on this subject and summarized to inform its readers on recent research conducted within the last five years. The first article reviewed was a research study to determine strategies patient’s implemented in order to cope with
As adults grow older a substantial number of people experience pain and cognitive impairment. Assessment’s of their pain become more complex as patient’s cognitive abilities decline, patient’s losing their ability to express themselves, and not understanding their pain (Chatterjee, 2012). Dementia is one the many cognitive impairments elders might go through. It is a progressive brain disease and can be classified as mild, moderate, or severe according to the level of cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment can affect a person’s ability to describe their pain, understand the assessment questions that are asked, recall painful events, and rate their pain on a numeric scale 0-10 (Wilsons et al, 2006). Observation assessments like the Abbey
Exploring the precision of assessing pain by using available tools in the hospitals chosen for the study by comparing them with the (COPT).
Pain has been defined by Coates & Hindle as an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience which signals a potential or actual damage to tissues (2011, p. 213). Pain is a common human experience and can emanate from injury and illness. There are two main types of pain; acute pain is short-lived, lasting for minutes or several days and its onset often takes place rapidly. It results from the activation of pain nerve endings or nociceptors either by internal or external pain stimuli. On the other hand chronic pain is continuous and sometimes recurrent and can last for weeks, months or even years. Chronic pain is usually not located at or related to the tissue undergoing trauma (Draper & Knight, 2007, p. 104). Various theories have been proposed to explain the mechanism underlying the transmission and perception of pain.
After surgical joint replacement patients need pain management and analgesia because there is an increased amount of pain and stimuli that are usually not painful suddenly become bothersome (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). For rehabilitation of the joint to occur, the patient must undergo physiotherapy. This therapy includes strengthening the joint and its surrounding muscles. If an intolerable amount of pain is present, the time for recovery could be prolonged and even chronic complications may result. The natural progression is that the amount and intensity of the pain perceived varies from patient to patient but as the incisions heal the pain intensity gradually declines (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). “However, some patients experience deep pain or pain referred to the dermatomes that correspond to the operated organ, which persists for months or even years” (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010 p. 512). In the literature a clear distinction is not made in the description of post-operative pain. For instance post-operative pain could occur as a result of aggravation of the affected area by exercise, friction, or some other manipulation that occurs in the post-operative and recovery period (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). Scholz and Yaksh (2010) ask “are the mechanisms responsible for sustained pain the same as those underlying acute postsurgical pain, or does, in this subgroup of patients, the trauma associated with the surgical intervention provoke different changes in sensory processing?” (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010 p.511)” The post-operative pain that is under examination in this paper is that which is produced as result of the acute joint rehabilitation process. The goal of this project is t...
Phillips, C. (2009). The Cost and Burden of Chronic Pain. British Journal of Pain, 3(1),
The researchers used a convenience sample of fifty-three patients in post-surgical cardiac unit. As a result of the rigorous surgery, these patients usually experience fairly intense back pain. The patients were given one to three massage sessions of twenty minutes. The use of massage therapy significantly decreased pain scores in these patients. Due to this evidence, researchers suggested that massage therapy be used in conjunction with pharmacologic methods in order to treat patients’ pain effectively (Adams, White, & Beckett,
Freud had a preoccupation with death and suffering. He lived with great personal pain and during a time in history of war and death. From the burning of his books to the murder of his sister and dispersal of his family from their homes, Freud experienced the effects of human depravity by the efforts of Nazi ideology. His preoccupation with death and suffering was justifiable be, but he needed a rationale for why this problem of pain existed, and how men should to respond to it. Through personal struggle with pain, Freud examined his own psyche. He had a dichotomous desire for his own death. One the one hand he wished for immortality, but on the other hand he wished for an end to suffering through death. He chose to reject beliefs of heaven, hell, paradise and immortality on the basis that these ideas were only childhood fantasies. Freud found it preferable to esteem the work of thought as an end. Seeking comfort through “child-hood fantasy” was not an option, according to him. He said that he could not “face the idea of life without work. What would one do when ideas fail...,” and that it would be “impossible not to shudder at the thought.” His rejection of a real God caused his understanding of how and why the problem of pain existed to be limited to the realm of human invention. Freud theorized that guilt was at the heart of antisemitism. He wrote, “Moses and Monotheism” for this very purpose. According to his theory, Christianity was invented in order to relieve the unbearable guilt that the world experienced. Judaism, however, rejected this solution for the relief of guilt and consequently the world “repays Judaism with eternal hatred.” Despite his determined conclusions derived from thought, Freud did state t...
Measuring Pain 1. 1. Sensory - intensity, duration, threshold, tolerance, location, etc 2. 2. Neurophysiological - brainwave activity, heart rate, etc 3. 3. Emotional and motivational - anxiety, anger, depression, resentment, etc 4.
The phenomenon occurring in the article “Exploring Pain Processing Differences in Native Americans” written by Shreela Palit, Kara L. Kerr, Bethany L. Kuhn, Ellen L. Terry, Jennifer L. DelVentura, Emily J. Bartley, Joanna O. Shadlow, and Jamie L. Rhudy of The University of Tulsa, is that of pain tolerance and threshold between individuals of the Native American descent and white non-Hispanic descent. Pain is a feeling that can cause a reflex in the body which can help with the protection of the body sometimes in the form of moving a limb after the initial stimulus. The initial stimulus of pain that is inflicted to the individual can take many forms, some of which are a stab, cut, or blow to an area of the body, this process
“The Pain Tree” written by Olive Senior tells the story of a woman who comes back home after many years and begins to think about her childhood in a new light, which changes much of what she thought she knew of her family and childhood. The story shows the main character, Lorraine, revisiting the memories of her family and the woman who had taken care of her as a child, Larissa. Children mainly focus on the happy memories which may be tied to more important topics that they do not understand until they are older. Most children do not pick up on many of the complicated things happening around them. Lorraine can now see the bigger picture of her relationship with Larissa and how large the divides were between Lorraine’s family and Larissa’s
Pain, which is defined in its widest sense as an emotion which is the opposite of pleasure (White, 2004, p.455), is one of the major symptoms of cancer, affecting a majority of sufferers at some point during their condition (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.8). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2009, online) suggests that relief from pain may be achieved in more than 90 percent of patients; however, Fitzgibbon and Loeser (2010, p.190) stress that pain may often be undertreated, even in the UK. Foley and Abernathy (2008, p.2759) identify numerous barriers to effective pain management, among which are professional barriers such as inadequate knowledge of pain mechanisms, assessment and management strategies.
Conclusions. An adequate and clear understanding of the concept of pain and implementing interventions of pain treatment and management is essential in the clinical settings. Understanding the concept of pain is necessary for its relationships with other concepts that are related and similar to the pain experience for theory building. The in the end, understanding the concept of pain will ultimately benefit the patient and lead to better and approp...