Huether & McCance (2017) defines pain as an unpleasant and complex shielding experience that an individual undergoes and which an observer cannot be able to identify as well as measure. It entails the interaction of emotional, environmental, cognitive, as well as physical factors. When stimulation of pain receptors (also known as nociceptors) occurs, they cause nociceptive pain. The pain receptors are free nerve endings that innervate the target organ with the spinal cord (Hammer and McPhee, 2014). They are randomly distributed in the body, and thus sensitivity varies with their position. Pain transmission starts immediately the noxious stimuli activates the receptors. According to Huether & McCance (2017), the noxious stimuli causes opening of ion channels and generation of electrical impulses that journey through the primary receptors’ axons via the spinal cord, brain stem thalamus and finally cortex.
Acute Pain
Huether, & McCance (2017) states that acute pain is an impulsive defensive mechanism that notifies a person of injury and instigates a swift response aimed at averting or relieving the pain. Acute pain arises from visceral structures, deep somatic, and cutaneous as a result of pain receptors’ activation at the tissue damage site. Therefore, it is classified into referred, visceral or somatic (Huether & McCance, 2017). Acute pain usually commences spontaneously and lasts for a short period. Example of processes that result in acute pain includes inflammatory, surgical, and tissue damage. Since acute pain involves activation of the autonomic nervous system, it results in physical symptoms such as dilated pupils, hypertension, and increased heart rate among others.
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Referred Pain
Referred pain is a type of pain that is experienced away from its point of origin (Huether & McCance, 2017). This type of pain is quite challenging for the brain to determine its exact origin point because many cutaneous and visceral neurons impulses are covered by the same ascending neuron. However, the actual location and the pain signal both arise from the same spinal segment. The pain is felt at the referred location rather than the original position due to the extra receptors on the skin.
Chronic Pain
On the other hand, chronic pain is persistent pain that is experienced for a long period, often more than three months, and is irresponsive to medication. It originates from within the body, the brain, o the spinal cord and causes severe suffering. Consequently, chronic pain can lead to an individual’s impairment to perform daily duties and overall reduced quality of life. According to Huether & McCance (2017), pain modulation processes and deregulation of nociception are the leading causes of chronic pain. It leads to depression, eating difficulties, as well as sleeping issues with a feeling of hopelessness if specialized treatment is not sought.
Similarities and Differences
Chronic, acute, and referred pain exhibits similar physiological responses such as hypertension and increased heart rate. Additionally, all these types of pain’s inception are sudden. However, individuals with chronic pain sometimes adapt to the pain and may not appear to be in pain. Moreover, while chronic pain is a situation, acute pain is an event. Furthermore, acute pain is caused by inflammation, tissue damage, disease, or external agent whereas it is difficult to determine the point of origin of chronic pain (Huether & McCance, 2017). Besides, chronic pain’s treatment takes a longer period with no guarantee of complete pain relief while acute pain’s treatment takes a shorter period with the likelihood of complete recovery.
Patient Factors: Gender and Age
Age is one of the factors that are associated with pain. Particularly, as people age, there is a tendency for greater pain expectations. However, research by Petrini et al. (2015), indicates that there is a reduced frequency of pain inception among the elderly in comparison to young persons. According to Petrini et al. (2015), young females have lower pain tolerance as well as detection in comparison to young males. Moreover, the threshold for pain detection as age’s function decreases in both genders though the males’ threshold remained a bit higher (Petrini et al., 2015)
References
Hammer, G. G., & McPhee, S. (2014). Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine . (7th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding Pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Petrini, L., Matthiesen, S. T., & Arendt-Nielsen, L. (2015). The effect of age and gender on pressure pain thresholds and suprathreshold stimuli. Perception, 44(5), 587-596.
