Living with Chronic Pain Flashcards
What are the functions of pain?
Alerts us to potential damage to the body
May signal onset of disease so enable help-seeking behaviour
What evidence supports that pain functions to get us to seek-help about our health?
People with congenital universal insensitivity to pain usually die at a young age because of failing to response to illnesses of which the main symptom is pain or avoid situations that risk their health
What is acute pain?
Specific and readily identifiable tissue damage
Less than 3-6 months
Pain disappears once the damaged tissue has healed
What is chronic pain?
More than 3-6 months
Starts with an episode of acute pain but does not improve over time
Identifiable and unidentifiable causes
What is chronic benign pain?
Long-term pain that is typically present all of the time, with varying levels of intensity
What did the specificity theory of pain state?
Pain receptors in skin that transmit information to pain centres in brain
Sensation of pain is direct representation to degree of physical damage
Why is the specificity theory of pain wrong?
We experience pain in the absence of pain receptors e.g. phantom limb pain
‘Pain receptors’ exist that do not transmit pain i.e. in CUIP
There are psychological influences on pain e.g. mood, attention
Describe the gate control theory of pain
Endorphins mitigate the experience of pain
Takes into account both sensory info and psychological processes
Pain as a perception rather than sensation
Describe the effects of mood on pain
Mood influences pain and pain influences mood
Depressed or anxious individuals report the equivalent pain stimulus as more painful than non-anxious or depressed people
Describe a study that assessed the effects short term changes in mood on depression in patients with lower back pain
Half of patients asked to report upsetting aspects of their condition, other half asked to report positive aspects of condition
Before and after asked to hold bags full of rice for as long as possible
Those who reported upsetting events held the weights for less time after, whereas those reporting positives held bags longer
Describe the effects of attention on pain
Focussing on pain seems to increase its impact and focussing on other things seems to reduce it
Explains why patients who take to beds instead of carry on working take longer to recover
Describe the cold pressor test
Patients asked to put arm in cold water and either concentrate on computer based task or pain sensations
Those who focussed on the pain were least able to tolerate it and pulled arm out much earlier
How can attentional bias explain how some people with acute pain go on to develop chronic pain?
Responding to acute pain with worry/fear and checking for pain sensations may lead to experiencing further pain
May stop engaging in activities in case it triggers pain which in turn leads to disability and chronic pain
What are the 3 components of catastrophising pain?
Rumination - focus on internal and external info
Magnification - overestimating threat
Helplessness - underestimating resources
How have expectation of pain relief been shown to affect pain?
Patients with chronic back pain given injection of placebo drug
Significant reductions in pain between 15 mins and an hour after the injection lasting up to several days
