Chronic Pain Research Paper

600 Words3 Pages

Pain
Pain is an unpleasant feeling to the body that indicates an impending or real damage to the tissue. As noted by Rodway, Huether & Belden (2017), pain is not only caused by injury, however; it can be physical, emotional, spiritual, and cognitive which are all expressed differently base on the one in experiencing the pain. On the other hand, the perception, threshold, and tolerance of pain can be influenced by culture, age, gender or ethnicity. Whatever the degree of pain, Pain is, want the patient says it is (Rodway, Huether & Belden 2017). Furthermore, pain can be described in three categories acute, chronic or referral pain. From these three categories, this paper explains their differences, and elaborates on gender and age as a factor …show more content…

In an injury, the sensory receptors called nociceptors in the body are activated which carry the signal to the A-delta fiber and C fiber for reaction (Rodway, Huether & Belden 2017). Change in the peripheral and central nervous system dysregulate the nociceptors that lead to chronic pain. Finally, referral pain is transmitted by C fiber that is from an internal organ or lining of the body cavities (Rodway, Huether & Belden 2017). Acute pain is sudden trauma to the skin or body organs, which most often is relief by a chemical mediator; chronic pain is persistent and long lasting, does not change the vitals of the body. On like acute pain where there is a sudden increase in blood pressure and heart rate that sometimes can be used to determine the degree of the pain. Referral pain affects the tissue or body cavity which is not the source of the pain. All three categories of pain are similar in the discomfort that they bring to the tissue or …show more content…

According to a study done on whiplash injury by Koren et al. (2015), women have higher pain level in acute injuries and should be treated more actively and followed up regularly. Prescribing pain medication for women should be done with care to avoid addiction with pain medication as well as pregnant women should be care full when taking pain medications as most pain medications can pass through the placenta and breast milk.

Reference
Grashorn, W., Sprenger, C., Forkmann, K., Wrobel, N., & Bingel, U. (2013). Age-dependent decline of endogenous pain control: Exploring the effect of expectation and depression. PLoS One, 8(9) doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075629
Koren, L., Peled, E., Trogan, R., Norman, D., Berkovich, Y., & Israelit, S. (2015). Gender, age and ethnicity influence on pain levels and analgesic use in the acute whiplash injury. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, 41(3), 287-291. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1007/s00068-014-0419-2
Rodway, G.,W., Huether, S.,E., & Belden, J., (2017) Pain, Temperature, Sleep, and Sensory Function In Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: