Pain

Question 1

What is acute pain?

Answer 1

• Intense
• Lasts less than 6 months
• Patients motivated to seek out treatment
• Typically disappears after a while
• Can be successively treated by medication

Question 2

What is chronic pain?

Define its subcategories

Answer 2

• Can start out as an acute pain
• Lasts longer than 6 months
• Patients may feel hopelessness and helplessness
• Interferes with daily life
• Three subcategories:
• – Recurrent - benign or harmless conditions; intense episodes separated with periods without pain
• – Intractable-benign - benign but persistent pain
• – Progressive - it gets worse

Question 3

How do we perceive pain?

Answer 3

Nociceptors, nerve-endings

Question 4

What is the Gate Control theory?

Answer 4

Includes the role of psychological factors in the experience of pain (physiological factors)
Explains why people can interpret the same pain differently, and why the experience of pain may not be immediate

Question 5

What were the Specificity and Pattern theories?

Answer 5

Specificity
- Separates separates sensory system, receptors and neurons for perceiving pain - NOT TRUE

Pattern
- Assumes that pain is just a stronger stimuli

Neither considers the psychology in the perception of pain

Question 6

How can pain be measured?

Answer 6

• Physiological - heart rate, BP, respiration
• Self-report - interviews, pain scales, pain questionnaires
• Behavioural - observation of facial, verbal and physical symptoms during everyday activities and structured clinical sessions

Question 7

What are the physical factors influencing the experience of pain?

Answer 7

• Learning - to avoid certain activities in fear that it will lead to pain e.g.: dentist
• Cognitive - context affect pain perception (athletes, soldiers)
• Personality - anxiety and depressive disorders
• Stress - major life events

Question 8

What are the psychological pain management strategies?

Answer 8

Biofeedback
- patient engages in different thoughts/behaviours to influence physiological response

Relaxation
- e.g.: relearning muscle relaxation

Distraction
- focus away from the pain
Cognitive methods - re-label/change perception of the pain

Behavioural therapy
- eliminate the perks of the pain

Hypnosis
- only if they can deeply undergo it