Chapter 13 Flashcards
What is Pain?
unpleasant sensation and perception
List some Types of Pain.
acute pain, chronic pain, hyperalgesia
What is Acute Pain?
A sharp, stinging pain that is short-lived and usually related to tissue damage (burn, fracture, overused muscle)
What is Chronic Pain?
- Dull, burning pain that is long lasting
- May be continuous or intermittent, moderate or severe
What is Hyperalgesia?
- A condition in which a chronic pain sufferer becomes more sensitive to pain over time
- May facilitate recovery by stimulating recuperative behaviors
- A normal adaptation during sickness
How do we measure pain?
- psychophysiological measures
- behavioral measures
- self-report measures
What is Psychophysiological Measures?
Psyche (mind) — physike (body)
What is Behavioral Measures?
- Pain Behavior Scale
- Target behaviors include vocal complaints, facial grimaces, awkward postures, mobility
What is Self-Report Measures?
- Pain rating scales (numerical ratings or a pain diary)
- Standardized pain inventories
- McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ): sensory quality, affective quality, evaluative quality of pain
Explain the Transmission of Pain.
sensation – receptors (nociceptors)-peripheral nerves – spinal cord (fast and slow fibers) – message to the brain – brain assigns meaning then the sensation becomes pain – spinal cord – motor nerves (response)
Explain the Gate Control Theory.
- proposed by Melzack and Wall (1965)
- idea that there is a neural “gate” in the spinal cord that regulates the experience of pain
- pain is not a result of a straight-through sensory
What are Transmission Cells?
relay pain messages to the brain when the gate is open
Explain the Central Control Mechanism.
descending neural pathway by which the brain shuts the gate
How do we Treat Pain?
- Pharmacological Treatments
- Analgesic (pain-relieving) drugs are the mainstay of pain control
- Include “central acting” opioid drugs and “peripherally acting” nonopioid drugs
What is Referred Pain?
pain in an area of the body that is sensitive to pain but caused by disease or injury in an area that has few pain receptors
What is pain tolerance?
amount of pain you can tolerate before you react
What is Pain Threshold?
the point beyond which a stimulus causes pain
What is Hysteria?
tendency to exaggerate symptoms and use emotional behavior to solve problems
What is Hypochondriasis?
tendency to be overly concerned about health and to overreport body symptoms
Explain Dysfunctional Patients.
Report high levels of pain, feel they have little control over their lives, and are extremely inactive
Explain Interpersonally Distressed Patients.
Perceive little social support and feel other people in their lives don’t take their pain seriously
Explain Adaptive Copers.
Report lower levels of pain and distress and continue to function at a high level
