chapter 16 Flashcards
nociception
◦Nociceptive pain (musculoskeletal)
◦ Due to tissue damage (muscles, bones, joints,
skin) e.g. a fracture or burn wounds
acute pain
pain that lasts less than 3-6 months. usually the pain goes w
away when the tissue is repaired, but doesn’t have to be the case
chronic benign pain
pain remains at the same level (back pain)
Chronic progressive pain
pain gets worse with progression of the disease (rheumatiod arthritis)
five meta-themes can be foun in studies of pain
- body as obstacle
- invisble but real
- disrupted sense of self
- unpredictability
- keeping going (balancing between hope and giving up)
thee types of gain from pain
primary: having pain leads to less aversive consequences
2. secondary: having pain leads to positive outcomes (getting empathy)
3. tertiary: the pleasure of helping someone in pain
what are the 5 Ds when personal beliefs trigger a benefit from pain?
- dramatisation of symptoms
- disuse due to inactivity
- drugs misuse due to over-medication
- depenency on others due to learned helplessness and less coping
- disability due to inactivity
specificity theory (epicurus, descartes)
pain receptors –> brain –> sensory experience of pain
What did von Frey say about pain and nerves?
three types of nerves in the skin (for touch, warmth and pain)
Goldscheider’s pattern theory of pain
we experience pain only when it crosses a threshold
what is evidence disproving the specificity theory?
- phantom pain
- people are insensitive to pain, even though there are receptors
- psychological influences on pain: mood, attention, cognitions, experience, causation, catastrophing, social context.
how does placebo work? name the two mechanisms
classical condiitioning and response expectancy theory
Gate control theory of pain
pain receptors send info to gates in the spinal column, at the same time we experience cognitions and emotions sent from the brain to these gates.
Activation of the first system opens the gates (experience of pain), the second system can open and close the gates (distraction/attention –> less/more experience of pain)
name the three types of nociceptors
A delta fibers: mechanical, thermal damage to tissue, short sharp pain, is fast!
C polymodal fibers: blunt, throbbing pain that lasts longer, very slow
A beta fibers, coutneracts pain (rub a sore spot) is faster than c fibers
What do A and C fibres do for pain?
they send information to the substantia gelatinosa in the spinal cord, which will give it to the braim
substantia gelatinosa, what does it do?
it releases substance Projection fibres which activates the transmitter fibres that direct pain sensation to the brain. Via reticulospinal fibres will the brain respond to cognitive and emotional responses influenced by distraction, attention and fear
where does information from the A fibres go?
Thalamus and cortex (planning and initiating action to make the pain stop)
Where does information from the C fibres go to?
Limbic system, hypothalamus and autonomic nervous system (emotional component and to react quickly)
endorphins
can close the gates so that you won’t feel pain. like the runners high
neuro matrix: three assumptions
in reaction to the gate theory ivm phantom pain. the brain contains a representation of the body in which we process and integrate pain.
information about pain experience together forms a neurosignature, with two components: body self matrix (processes and integrates sensory and emotional info) and action neuromatrix (develops behavioural responses). The neuromatrix is programmed to assume that the limbs can move. If the body does not move, stronger and stronger signals are sent to body parts, causing pain.
McGill pain questionnaire
gives a multidimensional picture of pain. it measures type of pain, emotional response, intensity and timing (pattern). also measures vocalisations, motor behaviour, treatment behaviour and functional limitations.
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)
patients can choose when and how much pain relief they want. As a results, patient are more satisfied with pain relief, less anxiety and less analgesia. <– medicine that relieves pain
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
stimulates A beta fibres to interfere with pain signals and stimulating C fibres to stimulate endorphin release. place the device on your skin several times a day, so control is with the patient. Not very convincing evidence tho.
biofeedback
Biofeedback is a technique that trains people to improve their health by controlling certain bodily processes that normally happen involuntarily, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature.