Effects Of Chinese Culture On Pain Perception, Responses And Management

Peoples beliefs and culture can also have an affect on the amount of pain they are feeling. This can be from a feeling that they do not want to make a fuss. It is important that you create as many opportunities as possible for people to express their pain and create a atmosphere where people know it is acceptable to say they are in pain for example:-

The psychological processes in the article include pain perception, and how we as humans perceive pain, how we react to it, and how we adapt to it. The article explains the pain signaling process and how pain can be amplified. For example, when we get pricked by a needle, a signal from our finger ascends through the spinal cord to reach parts of the brain. From there, we perceive pain, then we form a pain experience. Pain perception can be resulting from several factors such as the frequency of pain input, how sensitive the CNS is, How the body reacts after brain perceives and tries to send information to the injured area. A pain experience is when we have the urge to put a band aid on our injury, or be scared to get pricked from a needle again. However, each pain experience differs from one culture to the other, moreover, one person to the other. The article is conducting a research paper about pain and pain perception in different ethnic groups.

In Chinese culture, health and illness concentrates on the balance between body, mind, and spirit, expressed as Yin Yang. It symbolizes the idea that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is a belief in part of the Chinese culture, that a physical illness is caused by an imbalance of Yin Yang.

In Diane Ackerman’s essay “Pain,” she ponders about the subjectivity in experiencing pain, how to define pain, and its role in human life. She begins by emphasizing that an individual’s ability to endure pain may depend more on culture and atmosphere than on the actual magnitude of the pain. Given that at times humans can forego pain for a spell because of their atmosphere, Ackerman elucidates the importance of surroundings in how one experiences pain by exemplifying her claim through a phenomenon in football players. Ackerman continues her discussion on the disparities in the reception of pain by asserting expectations delineate the painfulness of events. Strengthening her claim that tradition affects pain, Ackerman considers how cultures

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of the Chinese culture on pain perception, responses and management. Cultural backgrounds can have a significant role in how a person perceives and copes with their pain, many studies have identified the vast difference between cultures. “Culture shapes many aspects of the experience of pain, including pain expression, lay remedies, social roles, expectations, perceptions of the medical system, when/how/where to seek care, healthcare practices, illness beliefs and behaviors, and receptivity to medical care interventions” (Campbell, 2012)

Gender do plays a major key role in how patient respond, but we were subjective to believe that the female norm is: emotional, weak, passive, resistant, sensitive and that male are supposed to represent masculinity, strength, tough, and non-emotional. Be that as it may, we would assume in most cases that female response to pain will be higher on the pain rating--meaning it constitute a lower threshold in pain tolerance which it equate for their gender, and vice versa with male. For this reason, in a case study in “Gender, coping and the perception of pain”, by Keogh and Herdenfeldt stated “research consistently indicates that gender differences exist in pain perception, with females typically reporting more negative responses to pain than males” (Keogh, p. 195). Even describing how male and female coping strategies are different “it also seems as if males and females use and benefit from different coping strategies when under stress; females seem to prefer emotion-focused coping, whereas males prefer sensory-focused coping” (Keogh, p. 195). So, I had to include gender difference of pain perception into my project with the respect of cultural influences of pain. Two paradox that is needed to be observe is self serving and mindful, but I was up to the

JCAHO (2011) also stated that patients and their families needed to be educated about pain and how the patients’ pain is going to be managed. Every patient perceives and exhibits pain in a different manner and if nurses do not assess the patient thoroughly they can miss it. For instance, Engebretson et al. (2006) acknowledged that, patients manifest pain in different ways and this resulted in nurses performing an inadequate assessment of their patients’ pain. Also, Engebretson et al. recognized that patients often conceal their pain because they do not want to be viewed by staff as complainers or addicts, and if patients decide to speak up the nurses frequently view their patients’ statements from their own cultural, moral and ethical belief system and not their patients which leaves the patients’ pain untreated.

Different ethnicities from around the world are stereotyped due to the ability to control pain. According to (Calvillo & Flaskerud (1991). Stereotypes include: “Mexican-Americans have a low a pain tolerance”, “Italian Americans are very dramatic about their pain”, “Jewish Americans complain a lot about pain” and “Asian Americans do not express their pain.” Nurses are in the forefront when assessing the patients pain tolerance. However, nurses need to be sensitive to the cultural background of a patient. The transmission of pain can be altered by blocking cells along the nervous system. If the pain receptors in the nervous system are not being stimulated, the body will not feel pain. Moreover, many patients get addicted to pain medications

The concept of pain differs across cultures and healthcare disciplines, and devising ways to accurately define and assess pain is one of the underlying anxieties associated with the concept of pain. Since the population of the United States is a melting pot of traditions and customs, cultural differences between patients and caregivers may affect the perception and reporting of pain. According to Bird (2003) when measuring pain, cultural-related variations must be taken into consideration because measures of pain may be culturally specific. There are a variety of pain measurement tools available for use and each has its

Pain is different for everyone, because the brain “…[creates] its own selective picture; a picture largely determined by what is important for the survival and reproduction of the species” (Axel 234). In addition, because “[o]ur perceptions are not direct recordings of the world around us, rather, they are constructed internally according to innate rules” (Axel 234), classifying and treating pain for a large group of individuals is problematic. When attempting to address this issue, the question must be presented: is there a particular type of therapy which hospitals can use to reduce pain perception of patients, thus improving (or upholding) their physical

Dr. Huber has long battled with rheumatoid arthritis and the life of chronic pain that comes from it. In her book, she shares her unique perspective on pain both through research into how society conceptualizes pain and through her own experiences it. Some of the topics she covers are parenting while coping with chronic pain, having relationships, and how to manage a career while having chronic pain. In her research, she delves into the different culture’s concepts of pain. A large part of this research looked into pain scales and how patients communicate pain to their doctors. In her essays she expresses some of the flaws aspects of the healthcare system in hope it treats patients with chronic pain. In a fast-paced, find-it-fix-it medical culture it is difficult for chronic pain patients who cannot be fixed to get the appropriate care and treatment they

Each individual’s culturally based response to pain is divided into two categories: stoic and emotive (Marcia, 2011). Patients with stoic character response to pain in a less expressive way. They are more tending to bear with the pain and withdraw socially. On the other hand, emotive patients’ response to pain tends to be more verbalizing their expressions of pain. They like to have people around them and also react to their pain as well as to validate their discomfort (Marcia, 2011). A broad generalization is that patients from Hispanic (Mr.HR is Hispanic background), Mediterranean and Middle Eastern background are more likely to be emotional and expressive about their pain. Other groups, patients from Asian, Scandinavian and Northern European cultures are considered to be more stoic (Marcia, 2011). As a provider, we can use cultural factors to understand the patient’s reaction to pain, but we have to keep in mind that we cannot expect that the same behaviors or beliefs apply to everyone in the same culture (Marcia,

Though not always are the reactions better for us, there are better responses than ones that can harm a person's body even more. For example, in the article “A Path Out of Pain” it tells others some reactions people go through, some reactions for people is they tense up and that person then holds that person's breath, freeze and/or ar frantic, or even make noises. It just all depends on the person. ( n.p.). This can tell people what kind of reactions that a person does and then learn, as well as try not to do it for it harms the body more than helps it. This is important for it then shows people that even a person's reaction will not always help the situation at hand. More evidence says, in “A Path Out of Pain” this “Instead of reacting you could choose to respond. For example: instead of tensing up you could relax; instead of holding your breath you could breath gently; instead of changing your position constantly you could let yourself be still; and instead of making faces, holding, yourself or sighing, you could let the experience in and let pain be.” ( n.p.). This demonstrates that people should do the things listed above so that anybody who is hurt does not harm the body part even more. This is significant because it can help people respond different than be angry. A person can feel calmer and at least a little relaxed for that person knows what to do. This tells people that how you react can hurt more, but some of the responses that were listed could help a person get through the pain that will come in the

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.

The Buddhist culture believes that all of our problems are caused by a confused and negative state of mind, but all good fortune and happiness comes form a positive state of mind. Buddhism is meant to teach the human mind how to overcome negative minds like ignorance, anger, and