A new unique chronic pain detector

A new unique chronic pain detector

The American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) defines pain as – “an unpleasant sensation and an emotional response to that sensation.”

The web version of the Encyclopedia Britannica defines pain as - "A complex experience consisting of a physiological (physical) response to a noxious stimulus, followed by an affective (emotional) response to that event. Pain is a warning mechanism that helps protect an organism." by influencing him to avoid harmful stimuli. It is primarily associated with injury or threatened injury to body tissues.”

Pain is an individual sensation that can be described or defined by the person experiencing it. It can cause distress and discomfort, it is usually described as: aching, pinching, throbbing or stabbing. We can distinguish between two basic types of pain – acute and chronic.

Acute pain lasts relatively short time. It is a signal that body tissue is being injured. The pain generally goes away when the injury heals. Acute pain results from illness, inflammation or tissue injury. It can occur suddenly, e.g. B. after surgical trauma, and may be accompanied by emotional or anxiety disorders. The cause of acute pain can usually be diagnosed and treated accordingly. In certain cases it can become chronic.

Chronic pain can range from mild to severe and usually lasts for a long period of time, more than three months. It is linked to the disease itself. Chronic pain can be worsened by psychological or environmental factors.

The cause of chronic pain is not always obvious. In certain cases it may be associated with chronic conditions such as: arthritis, fibromyalgia or lupus with symptoms such as: swollen joints, unexplained fever, extreme fatigue, sleep problems or red rash. Chronic pain syndromes in particular are complex and their effective treatment often requires coordinated, multidisciplinary consultation.

Unlike acute pain, chronic pain can be mysterious, persistent, and often very expensive to treat. The complexity of chronic pain arises from the fact that it is a bio-psycho-social condition that occurs in various forms.

Because pain is a bio-psycho-social condition, all aspects of the condition must be treated. Assuming that a condition is “all in the patient’s head” makes the mistake of overlooking possible real pain.

On the other hand, a lack of assessment of the psychosocial factor can also lead to a longer recovery. The complexity of chronic pain conditions makes it impossible for a single doctor to treat them successfully.

We can differentiate between peripheral and central pain.

Peripheral pain originates in the peripheral nerves or muscles, usually due to trauma.

Central pain arises from pathology or dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). This is primarily due to structural changes in the CNS, such as: spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke and epilepsy.

Pain inhibition is important and necessary, especially when our safety is more important, such as when we are running away from a dangerous situation. The purpose of pain is to tell us through our brain when something needs to be done about a damaged area. The brain will guide us whether to pay attention to the painful area or ignore it.

This information is transmitted from the brain and reaches the spinal cord or brainstem via electrical impulses in fibers from spinal cord or certain cranial nerves. These signals are transmitted electrically to higher levels of the CNS.

Therefore, real-time monitoring of these signals can be used as essential parameters in our efforts to detect and screen pain.

Pain and gender. Recent studies using positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans of patients during pain stimuli showed different brain responses between men and women.

Several areas of the male and female brain responded differently to the same painful stimuli. Women's brains showed more activity in emotional centers, where men responded in the cognitive or analytical regions. These differences may relate to our evolutionary process and the different social roles of men and women.

Women often have a high sensitivity to pain but a lower pain tolerance. Your sensitivity to pain is influenced by many factors such as biological, hereditary diseases and hormone levels.

Pain and animals. The presence of pain is determined by observing a change from normal behavior.

Pain may manifest itself as limping or changing gait, withdrawing or protecting an injured part, abnormal postures, licking, rubbing, or scratching at a site. Signs of pain and suffering that are particularly pronounced in rodents include overeating, chewing on toes and feet.

Signs of pain can be subtle, such as a change in breathing, reluctance to move, apprehension, sudden aggression, inability to rest or sleep normally, or a worried or fearful facial expression.

Inspired by Dr Giora Ram