Goals Of Pain Management

Discomfort, sometimes known as the 5th essential sign, is unquestionably the oldest affliction of mankind. We all experience discomfort each day of our lives to one degree or one more. It may be a headache, a stubbed toe, a hangnail or a paper cut, but we all experience pain.

As the oldest affliction of mankind, it follows that pain is also the oldest medical issue.

Discomfort has a really long history of misinterpretation and misconception. Discomfort was once regarded as required towards the healing process. Only within the last 400 years, beginning with the great 17th century philosopher, mathematician and physiologist Rene Descartes, has any legitimate inquiry into the etiology and mechanism of discomfort occurred.

Descartes first suggested the possibility of a link regarding the sensation of discomfort and also the brain. These days, everybody knows that the mind processes discomfort sensations, but 400 years ago, it was a breakthrough! The mind-body connection Descartes made would lead to tremendous progress in the reduction of suffering because of discomfort. The concept of nerves carrying information to the mind for processing was revolutionary. Descartes’ hypothesis was borne out by anatomical studies conducted during the 19th century and has endured until fairly recently.

Within the 1960’s, the notion of a hard-wired system was challenged. The view now held by neuroscientists is that sensory info undergoes the integration of info from a variety of sources. The strength of the pain signal is modified by emotional and behavioral info coming back from the brain. In short, a two way rather than one-way street. Perhaps this explains the differences in pain thresholds among patients.

Moreover, biologists now believe the integration of this sensory information might actually occur within the spinal cord, not in the mind, prior to being carried up to the mind for further processing.

Almost all these findings have given rise to new ways to pain management. Discomfort management is one aspect of the general healthcare specialty known as palliative care.

Within the United States, palliative care is defined as reducing the symptoms of disease. It’s not dependent on prognosis and is carried out in parallel with curative medical treatment.

Hospice care is defined as the delivery of palliative care to those at the end of life.

Both share similar goals and principals, most of which are listed here.

Keep your affected individual active physically and positive mentally, so that you can maintain the patient’s relationships and work skills

Ensure the affected individual plays an active role in his/her ongoing discomfort management

Establish an alliance using the patient’s family in long term care and self-management

Begin discomfort management early. Aggressive management of acute discomfort may mitigate its progress to chronic discomfort

Establish realistic objectives and expected results with the affected individual

Carefully evaluate and investigate failed treatments prior to changing therapies or dosages

Do not fail to manage medication side effects for example constipation and nausea

Schedule reviews to go over and monitor treatment outcomes to ensure that pain management strategies can be changed as required

Remember, discomfort is really a subjective encounter. It’s what patients say it is. Be sure you comprehend the etiology (cause) from the pain. It’s great practice to sustain a discomfort background using standardized and quantifiable plan assessments. Finally, it’s important to maintain focus on patient comfort. This is, after all, the goal of discomfort management.

Winston P. McDonald enjoys writing for Uniformhaven.com which sells cherokee scrubs, baby phat scrubs and urbane scrubs as well as a host of additional products.