FAIRFIELD, CT, (March 26, 2017) – The title of Sonya Huber’s book is certainty as eye-catching as it was meant to be. Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System is an experimental work from the author chronicling her life with chronic pain in a series of essays ranging from personal anecdotes to researched articles on the nature of pain. Dr. Sonya Huber is a nonfiction author, having written other works focusing on healthcare, such as Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir. She is also an Associate Professor of English at Fairfield University. Her book is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble (online and in select locations). With this book, she hopes to breach society taboo on pain and open a dialogue between those dealing with chronic pain and those who are not. …show more content…
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
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
In second grade I was first diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Disorder, witch rendered me paralyzed for six months. CRPS is a nervous system disorder that causes stabbing, burning, constant, severe pain that can come on for no reason. It can cause spasms of muscles and in blood vessels, as well as cause emotional disorders from the trauma that it inflicts. For me, I was left with depression and anxiety over the unknown of when it would next return. I relapsed eighth grade and just last year, continuing through today. I am not shy over talking about the things that ail me, and, I think, my experiences give me more of a say than most to address Nancy Mairs’s essay than it does those who have yet to experience such setbacks in life.
First pain is an everyday experiences that is expressed through the use of language and is then legitimized (Waddie, 1996). If a patient as a history of depression or chronic pain they have pain every day and the concept is used to help explain their pain. As nurse we use the concept of pain to find a base line of the pain and to assess new pain. In surgical patients they may have multiple types of pain from the incision, emotional, and history. The concept educates the nurse of the different form that pain can present itself. Pain can also guide how we treat the patient. Emotional pain would not be treated with the “so know pain pills”, but with talking or listening to patient. Concept of pain also address the different form of patient and how the nurse and patient response to it. If a patient is having somatic pain from an incision the nurse could react by applying heat or ice. Pain is what the patient says it is.
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)
The providers should not just ask a patient where do it hurt, they should also ask why, when, how and what next ( Kandula, 2013). I feel that my doctor, when he asked me what was my treatment plan was using the explanatory model. By doing so it empowered me to be proactive when it comes to my health. This way of thinking and practice will elicit a more complete picture of the individual and their problems. It will also help the provider to see how one’s culture ties into the picture. According to Kandula, 2013 the way a person perceives their life and health is deeply embedded in their culture and hold significant
To most people, pain is a nuisance, but to others pain controls their life. The feeling discomforts us in ways that can sometimes seem almost imaginable. These feelings can lead to many different side effects if not dealt with or diagnosed. These effects can include depression, anxiety, and incredible amount of stress. The truth about pain is that it is vital to our existence. Without the nervous system responding to pain, we would have no idea if we were touching a hot stove, being stuck by a porcupine’s needles, or something else that could leave a lasting effect upon our bodies without us even knowing anything about it.
Pain is not always curable but effects the life of millions of people. This essay examines the Essence of Care 2010: Benchmarks for the Prevention and Management of Pain (DH, 2010). Particularly reflecting on a practical working knowledge of its implementation and its relevance to nursing practice. It is part of the wider ranging Essence of Care policy, that includes all the latest benchmarks developed since it was first launched in 2001.
What is pain? If you ask someone to tell you the definition of pain they will typically state something that hurts. Registered nurses should know the definition of pain and how it can be identified on their patients. However, Abdalrahim, Majali, Stomberg, and Bergbom (2010) propose that nurses did not receive adequate education in pain management and suggest the lack of knowledge hinders their ability to adequate control their patients’ pain. Therefore, the unethical treatment of pain can be traced back nurses.
“Pain is a universal condition. At some time, each person will experience pain from illness or injury. Pain isn 't only a physical experience; it also has an emotional component that may trigger behaviors that play an important role in how a patient 's pain is perceived by others (Yvonne, 2009)”. Pain can create a great impact on person’s life. In this paper, I will focus on the effects of Chinese culture on pain perception, responses, and management as well as how their ethnic differences and ethnic background helps them to
This paper will be addressing a chronic disease known as rheumatoid arthritis, this “is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system – which normally protects its health by attacking foreign substances like bacteria and viruses – mistakenly attacks the joints. This creates inflammation that causes the tissue that lines the inside of joints (the synovium) to thicken, resulting in swelling and pain in and around the joints” (Foundation 2016). The interviewee in this paper, Robert Doe, age 68, has been diagnosed with this chronic autoimmune disease. This interview consisted of six questions in the home of Mr. Doe around his disease and the medications/substances used and what their long term effects consist of. When conducting the interview, it was found that Mr. Doe lives in the far southern suburbs, this area seems to have many elderly people who have also retired from employment. Also discussed were activities of daily living and how this disease affects these activities, mental welfare, quality of health care, social determinants and lastly limitations connected to rheumatoid arthritis. This forming the purpose of the paper around Mr. Doe’s daily living, medicine and substance intake, and how this relates to determinants of health. Furthermore, due to ethical and confidential reasons the interviewee’s name has been changed throughout this paper to protect and maintain their privacy.
Chronic Pain is an interesting problem in society today. The exact cause of Chronic Pain is not the same in every patient. In fact most patients present with different symptoms and associated pathologies, such as the strong link with depression. Treatment of Chronic Pain is often performed a single practitioner whether that be a Medical Doctor, Chiropractor, Nutritionist, or an alternative health care professional. Chronic Pain is often extremely complex, because of this treatment needs to be multidimensional. Effective care of Chronic Pain requires the collective cooperation of health care professionals
Rationale: I wrote a human interest feature article about the protagonist, Marina, and how she recovers from the physical and mental pain from a traumatic event in the novel, So Much to Tell You by John Marsden. Throughout the novel, Marina recovers from pain and reveal her growth as a person, but the novel ends with her recovery. What happens to Marina`s life afterwards is not addressed in the story, so I felt that writing an article about Marina sharing her journey to her recovery would be interesting. The aim of this task is to express one of the theme in the book, which is how pain can make you weak at first, but stronger in the long run. I chose to write a human interest feature article because it is often written to inform people about a person`s event in life and to appeal to the reader`s emotions and provoke an emotional reaction in the reader.
In many cases, however, the source of chronic pain can be a very complex and even mysterious issue to untangle. Although it may begin with an injury or illness, ongoing pain can develop a psychological dimension after the physical problem has healed. This fact alone makes
For example, in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), the injury can be so devastating that it denies the elemental nature of pain sensation. Despite this, the absence of a feeling is a feeling (Wittgeinstein, 1980) and individuals with SCI do not lack the vocabulary to express the pain that they cannot always feel. When it is just felt in the insentient and unmoving part, pain can be described as something that promotes a positive consequence due to a feeling of connectedness with one’s body. In the words of one person with SCI “the pain, is the [body] connection—my friend the pain” (Cole, 2004). The reverse is also true; sometimes these patients live with the opposite extreme experience, with intense, unpleasant bodily pain for which no drug is effective. This pain cannot be ignored and becomes a malevolent part of a person’s identity, especially if it is continuous. “Pain does not came on, it is there, the whole time, twenty-four hours for days, every day of the year. Much of the time I can override it, but I still know it is there”(Cole, 2004). It is possible that this distinction, which incorporates the extreme and contrasting poles of human pain-body experience, is mirrored in the lexicon, despite not being reported in standard descriptors of pain.
Pain is a basic mechanism in life that helps the body identify that something is wrong or dangerous. Without pain, the body would be severely damaged without realizing it. Pain can become an inconvenience when it spirals out of control; chronic pain, for example, leaves many miserable and unable to enjoy life to its fullest extent even with traditional medical intervention. Around 80% of people report chronic pain in their lifetime (Holtzman & Beggs, 2013). People afflicted by chronic back pain turn to modern medicine for relief, but even these alternatives are not always 100% effective.