Pain Management
The word pain itself sounds horrible, so what impact the actual pain can cause is entirely inconceivable. It can cause an adverse impact on your life and can make you sick if not treated properly. Here in this blog, I’ll try to make my readers know all about the different kinds of pain, its cause, and the possible treatment.
What is pain?
Pain is the signal given by your nervous system that something may be wrong. It is an unpleasant feeling like an itch, sting, burn, prick or ache. It will definitely show some adverse effects on your lifestyle, as most of us suffer from pain in our day-to-day life. And this can be due to many reasons, like your working methods, the way you sleep or sit, the diet you follow, or sometimes the level of anxiety or stress you have in your life. It will not only affect your physical and physiological but also this can impact your social life.
Pain reduces the ability to act and suppresses the possibility of interacting with others; it affects the manner in which the human is still or no longer able to address himself to others.
Types of pain
Medically speaking, pain is an uncomfortable sensation that usually signals an illness or injury. Generally speaking, pain is the body’s way of informing you that something isn’t right. The five most common types of pain are;
- Acute pain- This class comes under the short duration of pain, which can last from about a few minutes to three or six hours. This acute pain is generally due to a soft-tissue injury or because of a temporary illness. So this can quickly go after the injury is recovered or the illness has subsided. In case you do not take proper care and medication at times, this acute pain can become chronic pain which will create difficulty in your day-to-day life.
- Chronic pain- This comes in the category of longer duration. It can be intermittent or constant. This kind of pain often lasts for a longer time and occur due to health condition like fibromyalgia, arthritis, or a spine condition. This can be due to headaches that last for years and years. When acute pain is not treated with proper care and medication, it forms the category of Chronic pain and starts creating trouble in your life. So if you ever feel pain for any reason, try to find a better and permanent solution instead of avoiding it.
- Neuropathic pain- This pain occurs due to damage in the nerves or any part of the nervous system. This category is often described as stabbing, shooting, or burning pain, or worst, it sometimes feels like needles and pins. It may impact your sensation of feeling hot or cold. And affect the sensitivity to touch and make someone feel difficulty in feeling. It is a common type of chronic pain. It can be intermittent and can also be served problem in performing any task. As the pain can interfere with the normal movement of the body, it may lead to mobility issues.
- Nociceptive pain- This pain occurs due to damage in the body tissue. People often describe it as being an achy, sharp, or throbbing pain that is mortally caused due to any external injury. Some examples of nociceptive pain are when you stub your toe, twist your ankle, hit your elbow, fall, and scrape up your knee, and you may feel nociceptive pain. This kind of pain is often experienced in the joints, skin, tendons, muscles, and bones. This can be of both types, the acute or the chronic.
- Radicular pain- This is an extraordinary kind of pain that only occurs when you get spinal nerves compressed or inflamed. This usually occurs from the back and hip into the legs by following the path of the spine and spinal nerve root. Those who are suffering from radicular pain may experience tingling, muscle weakness, and numbness. In other terms, this is also known as sciatica because the pain is due to damage to the sciatic nerve. This is generally steady, and people may feel this in their legs. Performing regular activities like walking or sitting can make it worse and create many problems.
Symptoms and Signs of pain
As the way and category are different for each kind of pain, its sing and symptoms are also different.
For Physical Pain;
- Groaning or moaning
- Crying
- Sighing
- Heavy breathing
- Decrease activity
- Change in gait
- A loss of function
- Frowning
- Grimacing
- Appetite changes
- Poor sleeping
- Fearful expression
- Teeth grinding
- Fidgeting.
For spiritual pain;
- Isolation
- Distrust
- “No one cares.”
- Guilt, Loss of hope
- “Why is this happening?”
- Cynicism
- Apathy
- Abandonment
- Worry
- Loss of hope
- Emptiness
- Loss of meaning
- Doubt
- Martyrdom
- Loss of direction.
For communication Pain;
- Sharp
- Constant
- Shooting
- Squeezing
- Dull
- Aching
- Burning
For Nonverbal Indicators;
- Decreased activity because of increased pain with movement,
- Weight gain because of inactivity,
- Rubbing/massaging affected areas,
- Verbalizations or sounds of distress,
- Tense body language, Restlessness,
- Strained facial expressions
- Sad facial expressions,
- Tearfulness
- Increased resistance/agitation with movement,
- Increased breathing,
- Shortness of breath
- Changes in sleeping patterns
- Loss of appetite
- Withdrawing from family/others, as well as activities and pastimes,
- Decreased conversation.
For emotional pain;
- Forgetfulness
- Poor concentration
- Dull senses
- Lethargy
- Boredom
- Low productivity
- Negative attitude
- Anxiety
- The ‘blues’
- Mood swings
- Anger
- Bad dreams
- Irritability
- Crying spells
- Nervous laughter
- Dependency on others.
These are some of the classifications and symptoms of pain. And also, you can now quickly get to know which kind of pain you are going through and what kind of treatment you need.
Treatment for pain
Pain management can be of two different types one can be the therapies and your daily life work, and the another is medicines.
Pain management without medicine;
In case your pain is not chronic, you can take some measures to get well without taking medicines. such as
- Exercise,
- Healthy diet,
- Therapies,
- Changes in your daily life activity,
- Way of sleeping or sitting,
These are some measures by which one can treat pain without medications.
Medicine for pain
You must take medicines to relax if your pain does not go away easily in that situation. Some of the most common medications prescribed during pain are –
Hydrocodone- Hydrocodone is an opioid medicine that is also known as dihydrocodeine. It is used to cure pain and as a cough suppressant. Hydrocodone is an oral medicine. For pain that is severally enough to need an opioid. It is typically described as the combination of acetaminophen and Hydrocodone or Ibuprofen and Hydrocodone to treat cough in conjunction with homatropine methylbromide. To treat severe pain that lasts for an extended period. It is also available in a long-acting form under the brand name Zohydro ER, among others. This medication starts working after 15 minutes of consumption, and its peak effect can be recorded after 60 minutes. The pain-relieving effect of Hydrocodone lasts for up to 4 to 8 hours. Hydrocodone is classified as a Scheduled II controlled substance in the United States. Like other opioids, this medication also has common side effects, including dizziness, sleepiness, nausea, and constipation.
Oxycodone- Oxycodone is mainly used in the treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain. However, we will discuss its uses later in detail. It is the most commonly prescribed opioid in the United States and is also sold in its generic form. Since Oxycodone is a prescription-based drug, it is approved for limited medicinal uses only. One should never purchase Oxycodone online for non-medicinal purposes or recreational uses.
Oxycodone belongs to the drug class Opioids, having brand names Oxaydo, OxyContin, Oxyfast, Roxicodone, RoxyBond, etc. It is an opioid pain medication, which is sometimes called a narcotic. Oxycodone is used in the treatment of moderate to severe pain.
Codeine- Codeine is a well-known prescription-based medicine. Like most prescription medicines, Codeine also comes from the opioid group of medication. It is a high-potential drug approved for the management of mild to severe pain.
The Food and drug administration has put this opioid into the schedule and taken controlled drugs.
Percocet- Percocet is the trade name for a painkiller medication that combines the analgesic acetaminophen and Oxycodone. Doctors often prescribe Percocet temporarily to treat acute pain, where the combination of Oxycodone and acetaminophen can be incredibly effective.
These are some of the medicines given during pain treatment. I hope the blog is informative and beneficial to know about pain.
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