Pain is a highly subjective sign and is expressed by the client. It is an unpleasant sensory emotional experience with awareness to stimuli or harm. Tenderness is an objective sign and is commonly used in medicine to describe pain or discomfort. In tenderness, upon palpation there is complaint of pain, facial grimace, and guarding behavior.

Acute Pain is a pain that stops without treatment, rest, or with the use of analgesia. If the occurrence of pain is less than 6 months then it could be classified as an acute pain. This type of pain is identifiable, reversible, and controllable.

Chronic Pain is a type of pain that persists longer than the course of natural healing and is usually associated with a type of disease or injury. If the occurrence of pain is more than 6 months and/or is recurrent then one can classify it as chronic pain. This is type of pain usually vague. The classifications of chronic pain are:

  1. Chronic Non-Malignant
  2. Chronic Intermittent
  3. Chronic Malignant

Negative Effects of Pain

  1. Prevents Ambulation. Without ambulation, Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) may develop.
  2. Prevents Coughing and Deep Breathing. The secretions become stagnant and proliferation of bacteria is eminent.
  3. Increase in Cathecholamines. This increases Blood Pressure.
  4. Decreases Gastrointestinal motility. This decrease leads to constipation.
  5. Decreases Urinary bladder motility. This causes urinary retention, which may lead to UTI or the development of kidney stones.
  6. Abdominal muscle spasm and tension
  7. Increased myocardial oxygen demand. It cause ischemia that can lead to myocardial infarction
  8. Decreased immune system. Can cause the development of infections.

Sources of Pain

  1. Cutaneous. Affected part is the skin. There is an abrupt onset of pain. If the pain radiates it may have affected the dermatome which are other skin sites that are also supplied by the same spinal nerve root
  2. Deep Somatic. This source is poorly localized because it is diffused. This usually affects the muscles, bone, tendons, and ligaments.
  3. Visceral. This source is also poorly localized because it too is diffused. Affectations usually include internal organs.