International Association for the Study of Pain

Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain is written by neurosurgeon, Dr. Frank Vertosick, who transforms the vast subject of pain into an exciting and enlightening discussion that is highly engaging. Dr. Vertosick examines many types of pain including migraines, phantom limb pain, tic douloureux, ruptured discs, rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, angina pains, and cancer. Each chapter presents a clinical case, the different ways in which cultures viewed the disorder and the biology related to the disorder. The clinical cases of each patient give a personal touch and depicts just how these disorders can affect patients not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Dr. Vertosick introduces his response to pain by challenging C.S. Lewis’ statements involving the inseparability of religion and pain and how God intended for the pain of individuals as to create a way in which he was worshiped and looked upon to end suffering. Despite this extreme ideology and consideration for pain being biological in nature, religion cannot be entirely expunged as it was the basis of both the cause and treatment of pain centuries ago. The natural history of pain cannot be completely truthful without all accounts of pain management throughout time.…

Pain. It is crucial to our way of life, yet we have a hard time comprehending it. To understand what pain is, it first has to be defined but a definition for pain is hard to achieve due to it’s malleable and personal nature. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage”. Although many people think that pain from a psychological source is, “not real”, if someone regards an…

ENQUÊTE DESCRIPTIVE DES CARACTÉRISTIQUES CLINIQUES DES CERVICALGIES CHRONIQUES Background: Neck pain is a major health burden and one of the most common reasons to consult a health professional1, such as physical therapy (PT). In rehabilitation, better outcomes are obtained when PT treatments are driven by non-specific diagnosis, such as when patients are classified according to their clinical presentation. The intention behind the use of a classification system is to help therapists classify…

Nutrition and diet Nutrition is important to the health of every individual irrespective of their age. The Mediterranean diet has been examined in many studies, particularly those with a specialised focus on cognition or diabetes. The diet consists of a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, fish and unsaturated fatty acids; low intake of saturated fatty acids, meat and poultry; low to moderate intake of dairy products; and regular but moderate amounts of alcohol (mostly wine and…

Although the literature is filled with information about the prevalence and incidence of back pain in general there is less information about chronic low back pain, partly because of lack of agreement about the definition. Chronic back pain sometimes is defined as back pain that lasts longer than 7-12 weeks. Others define is as pain that lasts beyond the expected period of healing, and acknowledge the chronic pain may not have well-defined underlying pathological causes. Others classify…

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) (Mosely, 2004), is an umbrella term for a variety of clinical presentations characterized by chronic persistent pain that is disproportionate to any preceding injury and that is not restricted anatomically to the distribution of a specific peripheral nerve. CRPS can be sub classified into two diagnostic subtypes: type I, in which no peripheral nerve injury can be identified, and type II, where symptoms are…

13: Pain Management Assessment and Management of Pain Pain Definition: The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with the actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage or both. Pain can be classified as acute, chronic and malignant pain. Acute Pain: Acute pain is caused by injury, surgery, illness, trauma or painful medical procedures. It serves as a warning of disease or a threat to…

It is easy for a person to imagine the painful experience of falling off a bicycle and scraping a knee for the first time. What is more difficult is for him/ her to imagine that pain as constant, multiplied on large scale, and not knowing what causes the pain. Unfortunately, patients with CRPS know this experience as one knows their own name. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), is ranked as the most severe form of chronic pain that exists…

manage pain in critically ill patient. Pain is expressed as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage” by the international association for the study of pain. When the body has any physical injury or requires attention protective mechanisms are brought forth as pain (Gray, M 2008), this warns the factors in the immediate environment. In order to make the correct diagnosis efficient and accurate pain…

According to the Centers For Disease Control Prevention,” one out of every 500 Black or African-American births produce children with sickle cell disease”(Centers For Disease Control Prevention 2015). Diagnoses of the disease occur when several symptoms appear in an individual. Symptoms such as jaundice, pale skin color, episodic pain in the joints, gallstones, pain and swelling in hands and/or feet, fatigue and more (University of Maryland Medical Center). These symptoms often found in…