Question

med surge Ch8

3. Explain the relationships between past pain experiences anticipation culture anxiety and a patients response to pain.

4. Identify differences in the duration of pain and patient responses to acute and chronic pain.

Answer 1

3.

Pain is influenced by emotions, and the cycle of pain and emotions are interrelated. Emotions may directly impact physical change as well. For example, when you are anxious or angry, your muscles may tighten, and that physical change may also contribute to increased pain. Another challenge may be that patients might feel stigmatized when they demonstrate intense emotions like these in the context of their treatment.

Believing that you have control over your life and can continue to function despite the pain or subsequent life changes has been shown to decrease depression.

4.

Acute pain can be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for weeks or months. Chronic pain is pain that is ongoing and usually lasts longer than six months.

Acute pain usually comes on suddenly and is caused by something specific. It is sharp in quality. Acute pain usually does not last longer than six months. It goes away when there is no longer an underlying cause for the pain. Causes of acute pain include:

• Surgery
• Broken bones
• Labor and childbirth

After acute pain goes away, a person can go on with life as usual.

Chronic pain is pain that is ongoing and usually lasts longer than six months. This type of pain can continue even after the injury or illness that caused it has healed or gone away. Pain signals remain active in the nervous system for weeks, months, or years. Some people suffer chronic pain even when there is no past injury or apparent body damage. Chronic pain is linked to conditions including:

• Headache
• Arthritis
• Cancer

People who have chronic pain can have physical effects that are stressful on the body. These include tense muscles, limited ability to move around, a lack of energy, and appetite changes. Emotional effects of chronic pain include depression, anger, anxiety, and fear of re-injury. Such a fear might limit a person's ability to return to their regular work or leisure activities.