Jan's Chronic or Acute Pain - Essay Sample

Introduction

Jan's pain is chronic, and this is because physiological mechanisms such as menstruation trigger it, response to bright light, smells dehydration, lack of food as well as muscle tension. The physiological dimension of Jan's pain justifies it (Benzon 2011, p. 85).

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Pain can be acute or chronic. Acute pain and muscle spasm, for example, serves specific purposes and is provoked by particular diseases or injuries (Benzon 2011, p. 84). Chronic pain, however, has no biological function even though it outlives the healing periods. Unlike chronic pain, acute pains are self-limited. Acute pain does not last more than three months and responds to various pain management methods like anesthetics and psychological approaches (Sinatra 2009, p. 434). Acute pain lasts more than six months and is unresponsive to most treatment methods. Unlike acute pain, the treatment methods applicable in acute pain may cause damage. For instance, dependency on opioid analgesics (Sinatra 2009, p. 148).

Theories of Pain

A Brief Description of Two Different Theories of Pain

The two distinct theories of pain are the pattern and specificity theory. The specificity theory suggests that different body parts are particularly constructed for pain perception. The pattern theory suggests that when pain signals are sent to the brain, they elucidate patterns of pain (Marmo and D'Arcy 2013, p. 4).

Analysis of Two Pain Theories

There are the neuromatrix and gate control theories. The neuromatrix theory suggests that the human body bears an intrinsic neuron network that responds to psychological, physical as well as cognitive traits. The gate control theory, on the other hand, suggests that there are two gates in pain perception; the pain and the non-pain gate. When the pain intensifies, there is a perception of discomfort (Marmo and D'Arcy 2013, p. 4).

Pain Control

Main Methods of Pain Control

The major methods of pain control are chemical, physical and psychological approaches (Benzon 2011, p. 193). The used of these methods is owed to the fact that pain is a product of physical, psychological and chemical factors of the body. The three methods work in distinct ways. For instance, the chemical method exploits the use of pharmacological products that tamper with the chemical messengers, prostaglandins, responsible for pain sensation. The use of drugs such as analgesics is prominent in this technique. The psychological approach aims at disrupting the psychological perception of pain, and once it is disrupted, there is no perception of pain. The physical procedures deploy physical therapeutic procedures such as massage, exercises relieving pain as well as stretching of the body (Benzon 2011, p. 85). In Jan's case, these methods can effectively manage pain. For instance, the psychological approach will relive Jan's stress, and this will manage the pain. Likewise, the chemical approach, use of pharmacological products, will disrupt the pain pathway, thereby interfering with the processing of pain neurotransmitters. The net effect is pain management. The physical method is particularly pertinent to the neck, and with this, items like massage will ease the neck tensions thereby relieving Jan's pain.

Effect of Emotional and Social Experiences on Pain Management

Emotional and social experiences can either eliminate or potentiate and further aggravate pain. For instance, emotional experiences such as depression worsen pain (Breivik, Nicholas, Campbell and Newton-John 2008, p. 13). The converse of this is true. The same case applies Jan. from years, Jan has been antisocial, and she slept in a dark room. Thus, she had no one to share her issues with, and this accounts for the stress that is aggravating her pain. To this end, emotional and social aspects of pain are closely related to the point touching on psychosocial and psychological pain management. This is because they affect pain perception (Breivik, Nicholas, Campbell and Newton-John 2008, p. 13).

Jan's Pain Management

The Impact of Emotional and Social Experiences on Jan's Pain Management

Emotional and social distress aggravated Jan's pain, and this makes pain management a nightmare. When Jan is subjected to emotional disorders such as depression alongside social distress like isolation, pain is elicited through the biopsychosocial network (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 44). This means that the pain could emanate from Jan's psychological instability and inflict the pain of Jan's physical being.

The Main Methods of Pain Assessment

The fundamental assessment methods for pain include self-reports, behavioral as well as psychological aspects. Regarding self-reports, the assessment focuses on the information provided by the assessee. This implies that the individuals suffering the pain give the details of the pain such as its severity, location as well as pattern. As with behavioral assessment, there is an observation of the behavior of the individual suffering the pain. For instance, they could be expressing the pain through noise such cries or physical disturbance characterized by impatient. Much of the pain is liked to physiological functioning of the body. The psychological assessment focuses on the mental condition of the patient, and it is achieved through examination of mental condition to determine stability or instability (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 44).

Control of Pain

Biopsychosocial Aspects of pain

The biopsychosocial aspects of pain are a multidisciplinary subject aiming at the assessment of pain, and subsequently developing probable measures that effectively mitigate pain (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 44). To this end, much focus is directed to the patient's experience, and subject majors on the individual, but not the isolation of pain. The justification of this point is based on the fact that perception of pain has much to do with the social, psychological as well as biological factors, and these factors facilitate imperative to focus on the patient's experiences (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 44). For instance, an individual could suffer pain due to a combination of social and psychological difficulties characterized by anxiety, depression as well as a personality disorder (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 96). It takes an assessment of there factors to determine which one of them or among them is causing pain. For instance, if emotional distress is elucidating pain in an individual, the application of psychological therapy will be imminent. To this end, biopsychosocial aspects help establish the causes of pain which in turn inform the viable and effective pain management strategies.

Main Methods of Pain Control

Medical, behavioral and cognitive are the major approaches to pain control. The medical methods exploit pharmacologic products that modulate inflammation, mechanical nociception aspects of pain perception as well as disruption of the transmission of pain neurotransmitters in the nervous system (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 130). The behavioral part of this approach focuses on training individuals on how to respond to pain (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 166). As with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), individuals suffering pain equipped with skills that help them identify and alter maladaptive thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, and subsequently replacing thing them with those that improve the quality of their well-being by down stepping psychological distress, for instance (Ebert and Kerns 2010, p. 184). Through this, much of the pain is eliminated.

Conclusion

Pain is a multi-dimensional subject. In Jan's case, it was a chronic case due to the physiological dimension it took. The description of pain exploits the physical, biological and behavioral aspects of the human body. In response, pain assessment establishes the causes of pain, and this informs the management options like physical, chemical or psychological techniques.

References

Benzon, H. T. (2011). Essentials of pain medicine. St. Louis, Mo, Elsevier/Saunders. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Saunders. Accessed on 25th March 2019. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=9UuAWD2FTFsC&pg=PA193&dq=physical,+chemical+and+psychological+management+of+pain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirgtTz5JvhAhUPNBQKHZiUAh0Q6AEIUDAH#v=onepage&q=physical%2C%20chemical%20and%20psychological%20management%20of%20pain&f=false

Breivik, Harald, Michael Nicholas, William Campbell, and Toby Newton-John. Clinical pain management: Practice and procedures. CRC Press, 2008. Accessed on 25th March 2019. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=OCTSBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=effects+of+emotional+and+social+experiences+on+pain+management&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwis4KOw6pvhAhXTBWMBHccpDg4Q6AEITDAH#v=onepage&q=effects%20of%20emotional%20and%20social%20experiences%20on%20pain%20management&f=false

Ebert, M.H., and Kerns, R.D. Eds., 2010. Behavioral and psychopharmacologic pain management. Cambridge University Press. Accessed on 25th March 2019. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=RORnRRghGeYC&pg=PA44&dq=assessment+of+pain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij65HB75vhAhUl8-AKHSoFAqgQ6AEIUTAI#v=onepage&q=assessment%20of%20pain&f=false

Marmo, L., and D'arcy, Y. M. (2013). Compact clinical guide to critical care, trauma, and emergency pain management: an evidence-based approach for nurses. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Accessed on 25th March 2019. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=beNE2IzW4-IC&pg=PA3&dq=theories+of+pain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3vvOXgZzhAhWHnxQKHXy9BT4Q6AEISjAG#v=onepage&q=theories%20of%20pain&f=false

Sinatra, R. S. (2009). Acute pain management. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Accessed on March 26, 2019. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ORpBaZnBSaQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=how+to+manage+acute+pain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSwszEv57hAhXw2OAKHeDmDxIQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20manage%20acute%20pain&f=false