Pain Management Overview

Pain Management

• Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, often associated with tissue damage, whether actual or potential.
• Pain messages travel from the body to the brain, involving various neurotransmitters and pathways.
• Pain is common at the end of life, resulting from conditions like arthritis, circulatory disorders, immobility, neuropathy, cancer, and age-related issues.
• Proper pain management requires both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies.

Types of Pain

• Acute pain: A brief, often easily identifiable pain (e.g., injury, infection) that signals bodily harm, lasting days or weeks until healing. It has a critical role in preventing further harm.
• Chronic pain: Lasting longer than three months or beyond normal healing time. It can be persistent, disrupting sleep, mood, and daily life. Chronic pain may arise from prior injury/infection or ongoing conditions (arthritis, etc.). Chronic pain is treated similarly to other chronic conditions.

Causes of Pain

• Acute pain causes: Trauma, surgery, cancer, arthritis, neuropathy
• Chronic pain causes: Similar to acute pain causes, plus ongoing conditions like arthritis.

Risk Factors for Pain

• Cultural and societal attitudes
• Lack of knowledge
• Fear of death
• Exaggerated fear of respiratory depression

Populations at Risk for Pain

• Infants
• Children
• Older adults
• Clients with substance abuse problems

Managing Pain

• Physical therapies: Mild to moderate exercise, massage, heat/cold therapy can improve function and reduce pain, but restricting physical activity can worsen pain.

• Psychological/educational therapy: Crucial for patients with persistent pain.

• Pharmacological Therapies:

  • Simple analgesics: Paracetamol
  • NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs): Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Diclofenac
  • Opiates: Codeine, Tramadol, Morphine