Types of Pain

Neuropathic Pain

Other Types of Pain

Assessing your Pain

Effective Pain Management

Dosage Treatment Forms

 

 

Managing Pain...The Importance of Individualized Therapy:

What is Pain?

 

Pain is on of the most common reasons people consult a physician, yet frequently it is inadequately assessed and under treated, leading to enormous social costs in the form of needless suffering, lost productivity, and excessive healthcare expenditures. Much progress has recently been made in understanding the origin and progression of pain, yet many health care professionals are untrained in pain management.

The International Association for the Study of Pain has defined pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.” Acute pain is defined by a recent onset and transient nature. Examples include post-surgical pain, burns, or bone fracture, where pain subsides as the injury heals. Chronic pain is defined by persistence of pain for three months or more beyond the usual course of an acute illness or injury, a pattern of recurrence at intervals over months or years, or by association with a chronic pathologic process. Transitory exacerbations of severe pain over a baseline of moderate pain or less may be described as “breakthrough pain.” Breakthrough pain is common in both acute or chronic pain states.

Chronic pain is not a single entity but may have a myriad of causes and perpetuating factors. Therefore, chronic can be much more difficult to manage than acute pain, requiring a multidisciplinary approach and customized treatment protocols to meet the specific needs of each patient.

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