The Experience Of Acute Pain

p.483 The cell bodies of primary-order neurons or pain-transmitting neurons reside in the dorsal root ganglia just lateral to the spine along the sensory pathways that penetrate the posterior part of the cord. The second order neurons are found in the dorsal horn (p.484) Most nociceptive information tranvels by means of ascending columns in the lateral spinothalamic tract (also called the anterolateral funiculus). The principal target for nociceptive afferents is the thalamus (the major relay station of sensory information in general) Third order neurons project to portions of the CNS involved in the processing and interpretation of pain, the chief areas being the reticular and limbic systems and cerebral cortex. (p 484)

Pain is not only defined as a sensation or a physical awareness, but also entails perception. Moreover, pain is an unpleasant and an uncomfortable emotion that is transferred to the brain by sensory neurons. There are various kinds of pain and how one perceives them is varied as well. Certain parts of the brain also play a key role in how one feels pain such as the parietal lobe, which is involved in interpreting pain while the hypothalamus is responsible for the response to pain one has. Although some believe pain is just a physical awareness and is in the body, pain is all in one’s mind because the perception of pain and the emotion that controls its intensity differs in individuals and when pain itself is administered to the body, the brain determines the emotions one attaches to each painful experience.

The middle range theories consist of two more concepts, and these concepts are concrete and operationally explained. The hypothesis from middle range theories is testable. These theories are specific to the problem (McEwen, &. Wills, 2014). The middle range theory of Acute Pain Management by Good and Moore established in1996 used in the management of acute and chronic pain.

Chronic pain has four mechanisms. Nociception is a neural signal of threatened or damaged tissue, and is the classical pain pathway. Central pain states are thought to be caused by abnormal activity in neurons in the afferent pathway. The mechanism for this is not completely understood, and a person may perceive pain where there is no tissue damage. Behavioral pain is communicated by a

There are many various kinds of prescription of pain relievers, which include: opioids, corticosteroids, antidepressants and anticonvulsants (anti-seizure medications). Among them I would like to focus on opioid medications and its side effects. Opioid medications are narcotic pain medications that contain natural poppy plant, synthetic opiates such as; methadone, fentanyl, tapentadol and tramadol, as well as the semi- synthetic opioids such as; oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and heroin. Opioid prescriptions are morphine (C17H19NO3), heroin (C21H23NO5), codeine (C18H21NO3) and thebaine (C19H21NO3). They are highly addictive substances are called opiates. Opioid medications have been used for hundreds and thousands of years to treat both pain and mental health problems. It is also use in a short-term pain after surgery. According to the survey in the past two decades, the prescription of opioid in the United States has been increased to the higher levels that is more than 600% (Paulozzi & Baldwin, 2012). However, that opioid medications are very dangerous to the patients’ respiratory system, other parts of the internal body and even can cause death. It should be only being use after wise discernment and with a great care.

which in turn inhibits the second order neurons that transmit the nociceptive signals to the

There are many mechanisms for the sensitisation of nociceptors. A common scenario for this occurrence is when peripheral tissue is subjected to exogenous injury, whether it be mechanical, chemical, or toxic. Injury results in localised increase in inflammatory mediators, leading to the sensitisation of nociceptors. Upregulation and increased expression of various membrane receptors is the most common mechanism. Ionotropic receptors, Gq protein-coupled metabotropic receptors, Gs protein-coupled metabotropic receptors, and mitogen-activated protein kinase have been shown to be upregulated in nociceptors in response to the presence of inflammatory mediators (Sessle ed 2008). The resultant effect is increased conductance, lowered threshold for the initiation of action potentials, spontaneous depolarisation, and increased after-discharges to supra-threshold stimuli (Sessle ed 2008). Sprouting, or the growth of neuronal axons into the damaged tissue, also contributes to pathological pain. Increased number of nociceptive axons increases the opportunity for spatial and temporal summation and activation of nociceptors, which under normal conditions would not be activated. Sufficient concentration of inflammatory mediators can also lead to the activation of nociceptors which do not participate in the detection of noxious stimulus (Sessle ed 2008). With an increased number of nociceptors feeding back to the CNS, the sensation of pain is

The descending control mechanism activates once noxious stimuli reaches the higher level processing area of the brain. Inhibition can occur through opiate release

Marion Good, PhD, RN, has focused her study, “A Middle-Range Theory of Acute pain Management: Use in Research,” on complementary medicine for pain and stress, acute pain, and stress immunity. The purpose of this theory is to put into practice guidelines for pain management. Good, 1998, noted the need for a balance between medication usage and side effects of pain medications. The theory also promoted patient education related to pain management following surgery and encouraged plan development for acceptable levels of pain management. This theory was developed through deductive reasoning. Chinn & Kramer, 2008, defined deductive reasoning as going from a general concept to a more specific concept.

According to John Hopkins Medicine (n.d.), pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong. It can be fixed, throbbing, stabbing, aching, pinching, or described in many other ways. Pain is categorized as either acute or chronic. Acute pain is usually severe and brief, and is often a signal that your body has been injured. Chronic pain can vary from mild to severe and is there for long periods of time (John Hopkins Medicine, n.d). This paper will discuss a scenario that entails which person is experiencing the most pain, how two people can have the same procedure experience different levels of pain, factors that contribute to each person’s pain level, and two complementary/alternative methods of pain control.

First, pain is a sensory experience resulting from perception of action potentials in nervous system. Pain can be observed in varying strengths and forms based on factors such as past experience, stress, and anxiety. The endogenous pain system can enhance or inhibit the perception of pain based on these factors. Nociceptors are sensory receptors responsible for detecting unpleasant stimuli, and relaying that information to the central nervous system. These receptors are split into two sub groups: Aδ-fibers and C-fibers. Aδ-fibers are thinly myelinated, and have a small diameter. These fibers respond to light stimuli by having a low activation requirement and a rapid signal conduction. C-fibers are unmyelinated, with a slow conduction. These

Pain is a sensory and affective state that can be experienced by the self, and perceived in others (Jackson, Meltzoff & Decety, 2005). Such psychophysiological state signals potential threats to the body, initiating a behavioural response that ensures survival (Novembre, Zanon & Silani, 2014). Neuroimaging studies have identified a range of brain areas associated with processing physical pain (PP); typically referred to as the ‘pain matrix’ (Iannetti and Mouraux, 2010). This consists of an affective-motivational component of the painful experience (negative feelings) and the sensory-discriminative component of the pain stimulus (duration and intensity). While the former is primarily associated with the anterior insula (aINS) and

Pain is something that connects all of us. From birth to death we can identify with each other the idea and arguably the perception of it. We all know we experience it, but what is more important is how we all perceive it. It is known that there are people out there with a ‘high’ pain tolerance and there are also ones out there with a ‘low’ pain tolerance, but what is different between them? We also know that pain is an objective response to certain stimuli, there are neurons that sense and feel pain and there are nerve impulses that send these “painful” messages to the brain. What we don’t know is where the pain

Nociception is the sensation of pain which is normally a warning signal to brain in respond to a potential hazard. Generally noxious stimulations are detected by specialised high-threshold sensory neurons, which are refer to nociceptors. The signals are then transferred to an electrical potential and conducted to the brain via spinal cord. However sometimes abnormal nociception can lead to a moderate to severe pain although a noxious stimulus is missing. This kind of pain are usually trigger by nerve injury, while the pain sensation remains after the tissue had been healed. Although the prevalence of neuropathic pain is not significant, about 7% to 8% of the European population is affected, and about 5% are suffering severe pain (Torrance et al., 2006; Bouhassira et al., 2008). Normally the neuropathic pain is induced by injury of somatosensory nerves, and the pain remains after the tissue being healed. It can bring abnormal nociception while noxious stimuli are missing, which called dysesthesia. Beside, pain can be triggered by non-painful stimuli, which is called allodynia). Many research has linked the neuropathic pain to neuronal damages where endogenous ATP being released. Therefore purinergic receptors that can respond to ATP are involved. In this essay, after a brief introduction of P2X receptors, the role of microglial P2X4 and P2X7 in neuropathic pain will be discussed.

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.