Pain is very sufujective feeling and,has al breae spectrum in terms of' its severity from mile to excruciating agony;. The word pain is also commonly usee to eescribe a variety" of feelings eg: a painful experience, a painful loss pain in the neck such a pain ect.thus pain not only has a phylsical dimensipn' but also an emotional andlspiritual,. There is also arregt degree to tolerate pgin;anq can vary in thesaf at different times depending;on his emotional state. Hence when yoU see apatientin pain do' not try and undermine OJ compare that pain with anybody.
infact emotion plays a very impot:;tant part in an individual'serception of pain and hence Should be treated as such. Let us take an example of childLbirth where the mother experiences labour pains which are absolutely of no ignificance to her when she sees her new born child.
:However if, unfortunately she gives birth to a still born child then the agony which she suffers gets compounded. Thus we can see that a reaction of a mother to the labour pains which she has are drastically different and that is where the emotional component creates the difference.
Usually pain is looked down upon as a negative event - an 'unpleasant experience. If we really analyse pain, we can appreciate that though the feeling is negative there is a positive ,side of pain in the life of all living beings. Pain is probal:>ly the first 'warning sign for a problem or infeFtion. Imagine a situation 'where your pain sensation is lost. To appreciate this painless situation ,and the problem it can cause, let us .see some examples as follows: Imagine a man's hand touching a 'burning flame. In a normal situation the individual wo.uld have removed his hand from the flame iimmediately as a reflex and then the 'pain would have been perceived. If he has no pain sensation then he will not be aware of the flame and hence 'the injury can become very grievous and probably at times can even cost him his life. Thus we can see that pain is helpful in protecting you from aggravating an injury.
This protective nature of pain can be well understood when we injure ourselves and as a result try to use that particular part of our body the minimum, thereby giving rest and time to heal. Thus pain has two intensities; Acute which helps us to withdraw from the source of injury; and
b. Dull prolonged pain which. makes us give rest to that part ofthe body giving it time to heal.
The common pain conditions for which a patient takes self medication today are headache, body ache, period pains, and pains associated with inflammation ego as seen in minor' injuries, cuts, wound, abrasions, bruises, toothache, joint pains, sprains, infections etc.
There are a lm;ge number of medications available today from which an individual can select the one which he ne~ds. The common medication which are available are Dispirin, Brufen, Crocin, Anacin etc.
Unfortunately there are also situations where pain serves no useful purpose and then it can become annoying.
Inspite of the wide prevalence of pain it is often treated inadequateJy. Pain ought be treated, so that the suffering of the individual is reduced. While self medicating oneself for pain, we should be careful not to take medication indiscriminately. In case the pain is very. severe or persists or deteriorates over time then immediate doctor's opinion should be asked for.
Pain has been classified in various manner. As the classification is beyond the realm of this article, the classification is restricted for good understanding. Pain can be acute or chronic depending on the duration or it mayor may not be associated with inflammation i.e. a c.ondition where pain is associated with ~welling, redness etc. To know this is important, as the selection of medicine you take depends on it.
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