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Pain Management Introduction |
Pain Management is a complex
physical and psychological
experience that may, or may not, reflect injury or tissue damage. In
fact, the paradox of pain is that it
may often exist without recent
injury or tissue damage.
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Acute pain is usually a
sign of actual or potential injury
or trauma. It is often
associated with anxiety or
sympathetic nervous system
hyperactivity, lasting a short
time, generally between one to six
months, according to different
definitions.
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Chronic pain lasts longer
than this period. Chronic
pain is usually paralleled to the
duration of the many physiological healing
processes of acute tissue damage.
Other symptoms commonly become
associated with the
chronic stage of pain,
including;
anxiety, depression, insomnia,
weight loss, appetite disturbance,
constipation, and decreased libido.
Pain can have a somatogenic or
organic cause, involving a
physiological mechanism. Pain
may also be
psychogenic, caused by certain psychological
issues. Unfortunately, doctors too
often ascribe chronic pain to
a psychological causes when organic
pathology is not apparent; the
correct description in this case,
however, should be idiopathic pain
(i.e. pain of unknown origin).
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Pain Management Signs & Symptoms |
Because
pain is predominantly a subjective
experience, the best reflection of
the existence and severity of the
condition is within the list of
words commonly used to describe
pain. These words, compiled by
psychological researchers Melzack
and Torgerson, are classified into
three separate catagories [4]:
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Sensory
Pain: throbbing, pounding,
shooting, pricking, sharp, stabbing,
pinching, pressing, gnawing,
crushing, burning, searing,
stinging, smarting, wrenching, etc.
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Affective
or
Emotional
Pain: sore, tender,
sickening, blinding, etc.
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Evaluative
Pain:
excruciating, intense, unbearable,
etc.
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Learn More About Pain Management |
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