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Acute or sudden pain, symptom caused and treatment

Best Description about Acute and chronic pain

By Sarfraz HussainPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Acute vs Chronic pain

Acute or sudden pain is the body's defense mechanism.

Acute pain means sudden pain and can occur in a wide variety of situations. Acute pain is caused by, for example:

  • various injuries such as ankle sprain or fracture
  • inflammations such as otitis media or appendicitis surgeries

Generally, the cause of acute pain is known and the pain is relieved when the cause is treated. If the pain is mild and the cause is known, you can treat it symptomatically with painkillers if necessary. Along with painkillers, you should use non-medicated treatments such as cold treatment, relaxation, or shifting your attention away from the pain, for example, by reading or listening to music.

If you are unsure about the treatment of acute pain then contact your healthcare professional according to the instructions in your area of ​​residence.

When to see a doctor in acute pain?

It is advisable to apply to a doctor if

  • the cause of the pain is not clearly known
  • acute pain is severe or prolonged

The studies required and the appropriate treatment options depend on the situation and the patient's other illnesses. Severe sudden pain, the cause of which is unknown, always requires prompt assessment by a health care professional.

How is acute pain treated?

The medication used to treat acute pain is selected according to the severity and mechanism of the pain and the patient's other conditions. Effective treatment of acute pain effectively reduces the stress caused by tissue damage and the associated adverse effects on the body, promotes recovery, and prevents prolongation of pain.

Postoperative pain is one form of sudden pain. Read more about treating postoperative pain.

Pain occurs in a variety of situations

Pain is a common symptom in many illnesses, injuries, and surgeries. Most pain is mild to moderate in intensity and usually transient.

In order to plan the right treatment, it is important to know what kind of pain it is. Pain is diverse in its mechanism, location, duration, and intensity.

Pain can be classified as follows:

  • according to duration: acute and prolonged pain
  • according to the cause: for example, post-operative pain, osteoarthritis pain, cancer pain
  • according to the mechanism of pain: for example, nerve damage pain (neuropathic pain) and tissue damage pain (for example, pain caused by osteoarthritis)
  • depending on the location of the pain: for example, back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain
  • according to intensity: mild, moderate and severe pain

In addition to the above factors, the medications and other methods of treatment used to treat pain depend on the patient's other illnesses and the patient's wishes. There is no one “recipe” for treating all pain situations.

In different parts of the pain management house, you will find information about different pain situations and their treatment. This information will help you understand your pain state, develop your pain management, and participate in your treatment.

Why do we feel pain?

Acute pain is our body’s way of warning us that a sore part of the body is damaged or about to be damaged.

Without pain, we would cope very poorly with the dangers we face in our living environment. Pain is a warning system that allows us to learn not to touch too hot water and understand how to protect an ankle that has sprained on a jogging path from a load.

The pain makes us seek medical attention. For example, inflammation of the appendix may be the cause of severe abdominal pain. Pain is therefore vital to human survival.

Pain protects from childhood

We cannot avoid bumps and scratches as a child as we learn to move. For example, many remember how they have fallen and bruised their knees and forearms while learning to ride a bike. The skin broke and even the muscles could get minor damage.

However, with pain, the behavior becomes cautious. It doesn’t make sense to get back on the bike, but to walk quietly back home with the bumps.

The pain attracts close attention

The child’s usual reaction to pain is crying, which attracts the attention of adults and makes them help treat the wound. The body part experienced by the bump is sore for a while until the damaged tissues are repaired. It makes us protect the pain area, for example, by limping in the case of a sprained ankle.

Caution and asking for help are sensible measures triggered by pain. Tissues heal faster when not stressed and other people can help with injury and everyday chores when things are not being handled in the normal way. Once the tissues have recovered, it makes sense to go back to previous actions so that the perceived aspirant does not drop them out of life.

How does the feeling of pain arise?

What happens in the body and nervous system when we feel pain? This section explains the biology of pain.

When we touch hot water or a knife to lye and make a finger wound, the body’s pain receptors wake up and start sending messages towards the brain.

Receptors that specialize in pain stimuli are found throughout almost the entire body - the skin, muscles, bones, and joints. They are also found especially in the walls of sac-like or tubular organs, such as the stomach, intestines, ureters, and blood vessels.

There are no pain receptors in the brain and some internal organs, such as the liver or lungs. However, these internal organs are surrounded by a membrane that is painful.

1. Pain messages travel from the body to the brain

For example, when a knife breaks the skin cells of a finger as a wound is cut, the pain receptors on the skin wake up and begin to send pain messages toward the brain. On the way to the brain The pain message travels along a chain of several nerve cells.

The chain is called the neural pathway. It cannot be compared to a landline where a message would always travel the same way to the brain. Namely, nerve cells can be connected to several neurons at the same time, and communication between them can both attenuate and amplify the message.

The pain message first travels electronically to the spinal cord. There, the nerve cell connects to the next nerve cell through a so-called synapse. Synapse is the junction of nerve cells where the pain message is transformed into chemical mediators that excite the next nerve cell to forward the message. In this way, the journey of the message continues again electronically forward towards the brain.

2. The experience of pain occurs in the brain

The brain processes the information contained in the pain message in several areas of the brain and results in the actual pain experience.

The brain interprets where the body’s pain message comes from and how powerful it is. Pain excites areas in the brain that deal with emotions and that is why we feel the pain uncomfortable and try to get rid of it.

The brain also compares pain messages to previously experienced pain and decides if the pain is threatening or harmless. Interpretation depends on what information or memories are stored in the brain about previously experienced pain.

3. Body and mind react to pain

Pain is not just an unpleasant feeling but it triggers reactions in the body, mind as well as behavior.

Reactions in the body occur quickly and automatically. Pain can increase muscle tension, increase heart rate and respiration, and raise blood pressure.

Pain also attracts the attention of the mind. The mind interrupts the handling of other things as its resources are directed to finding out the cause of the pain and resolving it. This is important for the purpose of protecting pain survival.

4. Pain changes behavior

If your toe hits the corner of the couch, squeezing your toe will help in an emergency. A familiar painkiller can help with a headache. Resting helps heal damaged tissues. The pain may also cause you to turn to a loved one or a doctor or read online discussion forums. We all have our own means of survival that shape with our experiences.

The means of coping are often quite automatic. You can change your behavior and learn new ways. This is often the case for those with long-term pain, as our means of coping are usually shaped by the relief of short-term pain.

How can the pain clinic be treated?

A referral to the pain clinic is required. The referral can be prepared by a doctor who is well acquainted with the patient's entire female situation and pain problem. The topics of referral to a pain clinic are defined in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health's guideline “ Uniform criteria for non-urgent care 2010.

What does a pain pump mean?

A pain pump is a colloquial term for a medication dispenser that can be used to deliver pain and other medications intravenously, subcutaneously, or to an area of ​​the central nervous system (epidural space or spinal fluid). A better way to express a medication is to use the names of the medication and route, so you know exactly what kind of medication is involved.

In the treatment of cancer pain, pain medication administered with a drug dispenser (“pump”) is used when medication administered by other means does not provide adequate pain relief or has significant side effects. In the treatment of post-operative pain, an anesthetic and an analgesic can be administered to an epidural space, for example, using a medication dispenser (“pump”).

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About the Creator

Sarfraz Hussain

I am a professional journalist and I work as a writer and reporter in a national newspaper. The purpose of my life is to help people. Useful Tips on Health Care to Improve the Lives of an Ordinary Man.

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