Understanding Pain Flashcards
What is the Descartes model?
The gate control theory of pain asserts that non-painful input closes the nerve “gates” to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system. A painful, nociceptive stimulus stimulates primary afferent fibers and travels to the brain via transmission cells. Increasing activity of the transmission cells results in increased perceived pain. Conversely, decreasing activity of transmission cells reduces perceived pain. In the gate control theory, a closed “gate” describes when input to transmission cells is blocked, therefore reducing the sensation of pain. An open “gate” describes when input to transmission cells in permitted, therefore allowing the sensation of pain.
What is Descartes model one pain?
In his 1664 Treatise of Man, René Descartes theorised that the body was more similar to a machine, and that pain was a disturbance that passed down along nerve fibers until the disturbance reached the brain. Descartes proposed his theory by presenting an image of a man’s hand being struck by a hammer. In between the hand and the brain, Descartes described a hollow tube with a cord beginning at the hand and ending at a bell located in the brain. The blow of the hammer would induce pain in the hand, which would pull the cord in the hand and cause the bell located in the brain to ring, indicating that the brain had received the painful message. Researchers began to pursue physical treatments such as cutting specific pain fibers to prevent the painful signal from cascading to the brain.
What is the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing?
Bottom-up processes
sensory driven
processes that organise incoming information.
Top-down processes
driven by knowledge, experience, and expectations
determine perception in ambiguous settings.
What is Phantom limb pain?
Phantom limb pain (PLP) refers to ongoing painful sensations that seem to be coming from the part of the limb that is no longer there.
What is virtual walking using Moseley (2007)?
The patient watches themselves walk using virtual reality. This helps them to manage their pain.
What is a pain threshold?
The sensation (the first point at which the touch or pressure is first noticed) , perception (the change in pain), tolerance (no more), encouraged/motivated tolerance.
Give examples of pain durations.
Phasic, acute, chronic (around 3 months of constant pain in every 12 months)
Give example of different pain qualities.
Superficial, deep, referred (typically damage to some dysfunction of internal organs means that the pain is felt in another part of the body).
How can we manage coping with surgery?
Preparation for surgery – tell them what they are going to feel, what to expect etc. Those prepared, experienced less pain after the operation in the post operational period. This persists for even up to 5 days. This helps to manage post-surgical pain.
Nurses can use behavioural techniques. Nurses who focus their social attention on them feeling good, rather than talking about their pain, this leads to a change in how patients view their pain. They can better manage. Pain management is about focusing on the good things, the non-pain part of your life.
