Pain Management: All of us have experienced pain. It is one of the most common signs that people seek medical attention for. However, it is also one of the most misunderstood or ineffectively treated.
One reason for this is because the experience of a painful event can vary from one person to another. We will discuss the most common pain types and provide some tips on how to treat them. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Different types of pain
Pain can describe as an unpleasant or unfavorable sensation that occurs in the body.
There are many causes and types of pain. To help you manage your pain, we have grouped them into eight categories.
- Acute pain
- Chronic pain
- Breakthrough pain
- Bone pain
- Nerve pain
- Phantom pain
- Sore tissue pain
- Referred pain
Acute pain
It happens suddenly and lasts only a few days.
It’s usually caused by an injury or event, such as:
- Broken bones
- A car accident or another type of accident
- Fall
- Burns and cuts
- Dental work
- Childbirth and labor
- Surgery.
Chronic pain
Chronic pain persistent pain that lasts more than six months, and which is felt most days. Although it may initially be acute pain, the chronic pain persists long after the injury or event has resolved. Chronic pain can be mild or severe. It often associates with conditions like:
- Arthritis
- Pain in the back
- Cancer
- Circulation problems
- Diabetes
- Fibromyalgia
- Headache.
Chronic pain can seriously affect a person’s life quality and make it difficult to return to work or engage in physical activity. It can lead to depression and social isolation in some cases.
Breakthrough in Pain
Breakthrough pain sudden, brief, and a sharp increase in pain in patients who already take medications to alleviate chronic pain such as arthritis, cancer, or Fibromyalgia.
A pain flare is also known as breakthrough pain. It can occur during periods between doses of pain medication, exercise, physical activity, sickness, stress, and coughing. Although the pain can be severe, the exact location is almost always the same as chronic pain.
Bone pain
This refers to a sensation of tenderness, aching, or discomfort that occurs in one or more bones during exercise or rest.
Bone pain can be caused by conditions that alter the bone’s structure or function, such as cancer, infection, leukemia and mineral deficiencies, sickle cell disease, osteoporosis, and other diseases. Many women who are pregnant experience pain in the pelvic girdle.
Nerve Pain
It often describes as a shooting, burning, or stabbing sensation. Nerve pain can cause by nerve inflammation or nerve damage. It also knows as neuralgia, neuropathic pain, or simply nerve pain. It can sometimes be described as an electric shock and is often more severe at night.
Nerve pain can cause severe problems in a person’s daily life, affecting their work, sleep, and physical activity. Nerve pain can make them very sensitive to cold, and they may feel pain when touched. People with chronic nerve pain may also experience anxiety and depression.
Persons with neuropathic pain can feel pain from touch and cold, as well as pain when they expose to stimuli that are not usually painful.
The following are common causes of nerve pain:
- Alcoholism
- A spinal cord injury, nerve damage, or brain injury
- Cancer
- Circulation problems
- Diabetes
- Herpes zoster, also known as shingles
- Limb amputation
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Vitamin B12 deficiencies
Phantom Pain
It refers to pain that feels like it’s coming from an area of the body that is not there. Phantom pain is common for people who have lost a limb. However, it is not the same as phantom limb sensation which is typically painless.
Although doctors used to believe that phantoms were psychological problems, they now recognize that these sensations are actually pain sensations that originate from the brain and spinal cord. Although it can improve over time, managing phantoms may be difficult for some people.
Pain in the soft tissue
It is a condition that causes pain or discomfort due to inflammation or damage to the muscles, tissues, and ligaments. More often than not this pain can be treated by a Townsville Physio due to the cause of the pain. This can be caused by swelling or bruising.
- Neck or back pain
- Bursitis
- Fibromyalgia
- Rotator cuff injury
- Sciatica pain
- Sports injuries such as strains and sprains
- Syndrome of the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ).
Referred pain
It is pain that feels like it’s coming from one place, but it causes by injury or inflammation in another organ or structure. For example, pain in the neck left shoulder, and right arm can be felt during a heart attack. A constant feeling of pain radiating to the back from the stomach or pancreas injury can indicate inflammation. Pain in the shoulder blade can be caused by a ruptured spleen.
Referred pain occurs because of a network interconnecting sensory nerves that supply many tissues. The brain can mistakenly interpret an injury in one part of the network as damage in another area.
What Kind of Pain Do I Experience?
It can sometimes be difficult to determine the exact type of pain that you are feeling. This checklist will help you identify your pain type as well as other contributing factors. Before you visit your doctor, fill it out.
The Faces Pain Scale can be helpful if your child is in pain. The Faces Pain Scale is a series of diagrams that depict a child’s face in different levels of pain, from no pain (0 to 10).
Pain Management How to do?
There are many types of pain-relieving medication, and each one works differently. The following categories can be used to group most medications:
- Nonopioids: A medicine that isn’t similar to morphine (an addictive opioid), but which is not addictive (eg acetaminophen or aspirin, NSAIDs).
- Weak opioids: A medicine similar to morphine (an opioid), but not as strong (eg codeine, tramadol).
- Combination opioids: There contains a nonopioid, either a weak opioid (eg, hydrocodone or acetaminophen) and a strong opioid (eg. hydrocodone and acetaminophen).
- Strong opioids: medicine like morphine or a similar to morphine has the potential for addiction (eg, Fentanyl, Morphine, Oxycodone).
- Other: (eg, Ketamine)
- Adjuvant therapies: medicine that relieves pain by reducing inflammation or improving the functioning of other systems (e.g., gabapentin, capsaicin cream, cannabidiol)
- Nonpharmacological Treatments: (drug-free therapies), such as counseling or psychotherapy.
The effectiveness of a pain-relieving medication for a particular type of pain will determine the choice. Side effects may also consider.
- It is important to monitor the effectiveness of pain medications once they start. If side effects occur, the treatment should modify or adjust.
- Certain types of pain, such as cancer-related pain, can take an unpredictable course. They can be very severe and long-lasting depending on the treatment and progression of the disease. This is why pain management must be flexible.
- There will be more than one type for some people.
- It is possible to improve the effectiveness of pain medication by changing its delivery method. For example, switching from oral treatment to a patch or subcutaneous pump.
Traditionally, experts recommend a step-by-step approach to pain management. This includes starting with acetaminophen, NSAIDs, and then moving to a weak opioid (such as codeine, dihydrocodeine, or tramadol), before switching to a stronger opioid (such as fentanyl or morphine, or oxycodone).
This Pacific Medical Care Pain Treatment, and other medications that do not act as analgesics, can be used to relieve pain. Opioids should be only used to treat certain types of pain because they can lead to addiction. A modified 3-step pain management ladder is now available, but it should always be adjusted to the type of pain.