Understand your pain and its causes |
Explore the What and Why of Pain | Definitions of pain
Understand
If you haven’t done this yet, you’ve got to start by discussing your pain issues with a medical provider. Whether you think the origination of the pain is physical or emotional, check it out with a professional, get their thoughts on causes and treatment options. You can ask your doctor for a referral to Pain Management Specialist. Your doctor may also refer you to a physical therapist. You may want to talk to a counselor or therapist to help you explore emotional pain.
You have the right to find a provider who shares your philosophy on pain
Remember, you are the customer, you have the right to ask all the questions you need answers for. You have the right to find a provider who shares your philosophy on pain and will collaborate with you on reaching your treatment goals. In the SUPPORT section, we will define other treatment options that you may want to look into. (You are right, I’ve said this twice. I think it’s important enough to repeat.)
Definitions
Below is an alphabetized list of medical words or jargon used on this site. Please stay patient as we insert definitions and link them throughout the CRUSH the Pain Website. Thank you.
- Acute – Acute pain is short lasting (lasting at the most 3-6 months), usually is a symptom that has an identifiable pathology and function and can usually be relieved with treatment.
- Chronic – Chronic pain is long lasting and often the cause can’t be identified. This pain can be associated with depression and feelings of hopelessness. If neglected, acute pain can become chronic pain.
- Neuropathic – This is related to the nervous system. This pain is often felt as radiating or specific. It is often described as burning, pricking, tingling, or electric shock.
- Somatic – Refers to the body. When talking about somatic pain, it refers to pain of the skin, tissue, or muscle. This pain is often more localized, and often described as pin prick, stabbing, or sharp.
- Visceral – Refers to internal organs in the chest, pelvic and abdominal area. This pain is usually generalized and often described as an ache or pressure .
Opioids can be very effective for acute pain but not too helpful for chronic pain. If you really want to get into the many definitions of pain and associated terms and conditions, check out www.iasp-pain.org and click on the education tab.
What is Persistent Pain and why do we have it?
Pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”
Pain can be over-treated and often with chronic pain—under-treated.
Every time you go to the doctor you probably get your vital signs taken. You get your blood pressure checked, your heart rate measured, your temperature taken, and a gadget put on your finger to check your oxygen saturation. Then, the well-meaning health care provider asks you if you have any pain and to rank the pain on a scale of 0-10, ten being the worst pain imaginable.
So now we have well-meaning health providers sending an unintended message to patients that no pain is acceptable and is an issue to be resolved.
When you tell your health care provider that your pain level is above 0-1, they may want to automatically bring number down for you, or if the pain is chronic they may ignore your reports.
Often, they forget to ask a few key questions: “Is this pain affecting the quality of your life and your ability to do the things you want to do? Is this level of pain tolerable for you?” Sometimes they forget to educate their patients about pain: to demystify pain and remove some of the fear around the pain. So now we have well-meaning health providers sending an unintended message to patients that no pain is acceptable and is an issue to be resolved or it’s “all in your head” and you should just move on.
The bio-psycho-social model of persistent pain tells us…
Just because you are experiencing pain doesn’t mean that there is actual damage occurring.
That doesn’t mean your pain shouldn’t be addressed!
Consider a basic safety device found in nearly every building—a fire alarm. Just because the fire alarm goes off, the home isn’t necessarily on fire. And just because you are experiencing pain doesn’t mean that there is actual damage occurring.
Now, of course, we want to know why the fire alarm went off in the first place and what changes we can make to keep this from happening again. And so it goes with pain. Just like the fire alarm, pain is all about protection of the mind and body.
When we hurt physically and/or emotionally, that is our body and mind signaling us to be aware. But remember the IASP definition of pain that refers to actual or potential damage.
What if we are experiencing persistent pain but there is little or no tissue damage occurring? What if our safety signal has short circuited, like a faulty fire alarm? We still want to figure out why the alarm went off and how to keep it from unnecessarily going off again, and we want to learn to fine tune the system so the sound of the alarm is appropriate for the size of the fire. We want to know when to call the fire department, break all the windows, and hose down the place versus when we don’t need more than a bucket of water to quench a small flame and call it a day.
When you look at the relationship between actual injury, nociception, and persistent pain, it’s clear that the entire system is all about protection and not about conveying an accurate indication of the state of the tissues.
Since pain is about protection, the pain alarm can tell us important things like, get away from the fire or don’t run until your hamstring heals. Pain depends on your brain’s evaluation of danger and the likely benefit of protective behavior.
When you look at the relationship between actual injury, nociception, and pain, it’s clear that the entire system is all about protection and not about conveying an accurate indication of the state of the tissues.
(Explain Pain Supercharged – check this book out for more wonderful information).
This is why it’s so important to develop a kind, curious relationship to the pain. This relationship will help you know when to stop, when to slow down, when to move forward with caution, and when to move ahead with the knowledge that all is OK. This relationship will give you the knowledge to fine tune the alarm system. And help to live fully even if the alarm keeps sounding.