Darrick Robles Of course, pain is anything but a pleasant experience. To a certain extent, however, they are part of life. Finally, pain stimuli mediate important sensory experiences. Nevertheless, pain is something that we want to get rid of as quickly as possible. Unfortunately not always easy: in Germany every sixth person suffers from long-lasting, chronic pain. Fortunately, there are a variety of effective pain therapies.
what is pain
Pain is a sensory or emotional experience . They can be associated with actual, potential or only apparent damage to body tissue. Pain can be perceived in all possible intensities, from unpleasant to unbearable. They often occur as a side effect of injuries or illnesses.
Pain is subjective
Surely you’ve heard it before and maybe even experienced it yourself that pain is subjective. Like other sensory perceptions, it is shaped by internal and external factors. The internal factors include B. the own attitude towards pain or the general mental state. The external ones include social competence, for example whether one is supported by those around them.
Precisely because pain is so subjective, an objective assessment, for example by a doctor, is very difficult. However, medical professionals have some tools at their disposal to assess the extent of the condition. These include e.g. B. Pain questionnaires and pain scales.
Pain has a function
Pain has a purpose: it is a warning signal that wants to protect us from injury or greater suffering. As such, it is indispensable. People who are unable to feel any pain due to a gene mutation live dangerously: For example, they only notice that they have been burned when they can already smell the burned skin. Injuries heal less well with them because they do not automatically protect the affected body part.
Pain can become independent. Chronic pain no longer has a helpful signal effect – it is classified and treated as an independent clinical picture.
This is how pain transmission works
So-called nociceptors are distributed almost everywhere in the body. If tissue is injured, they register this as a stimulus. The pain stimulus is sent to the brain with the help of messenger substances via various nerve cells, which come together in the spinal cord and brain stem, among other places. All signals are processed there and assigned to the respective body region – it hurts. However, the brain has a say in this: It can intervene in the transmission processes and thereby actively influence the perception of the pain.
Different types of pain
Depending on the perspective, pain can be classified differently. You can pain z. B. differ according to their localization, ie z. B. Shoulder pain, joint pain and lower abdominal pain. Somatic pain originates from the skin or from bones, muscles or joints. In neuropathic pain, the nerves are damaged. (Phantom limb pain also falls into this category.) Finally, there is visceral pain, which originates in organs or blood vessels.
Pain can vary in quality. There is e.g. B. pulling and pinching, stabbing and pressing, cramping and burning pain. Acute pain occurs, for example, after an injury or after an operation. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is defined as pain lasting 3 to 12 months. Acute pain can become chronic if not treated adequately – even when the original pain trigger has long since healed.
pain management
When it comes to the symptomatic treatment of pain, many people first think of medication. In fact, drug therapy is an important component in the fight against pain. The commonly used drug groups include e.g. e.g.:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), e.g. B. acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen
- Coxibe, z. B. Etoricoxib, Celecoxib, Parecoxib
- Opioide, z. B. Tramadol, Morphium
In addition, physical therapy has proven to be effective in many cases, i.e. cooling (e.g. in the case of a painful sunburn) or application of heat (e.g. in the case of muscle tension). Pain relief can also be achieved through physical therapy, manual therapy, or electrotherapy. In addition, there are many patients for whom psychotherapy has helped against pain – body and soul form a unit.
Take painkillers with caution
If you are in pain, just throw in a pill? Not a good idea: Like all medicines, painkillers also have side effects and sometimes harmful long-term consequences, especially if they are used frequently. This also applies to over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and diclofenac. Excessive use of painkillers is very dangerous and can even promote chronic pain.
Choosing the right painkiller not only depends on the disease in question, but also on the individual patient. Discuss which medication is right for you with a doctor or, if this is not possible, with a pharmacist. Incidentally, painkillers are among the most prescribed medications.
With pain to Med-Healths
You are in pain – now what? As long as it is not an acute emergency, Med-Healths can help, at least as part of an initial orientation. The types of pain that our doctors treat particularly often include headaches , backaches and, especially during the cold season, sore throats . Telemedicine can also help with migraines and painful aphthae .
