Pain screening is intended to improve the quality of pain management by systematically identifying patients with pain in clinical settings. Universal pain screening is an increasingly common practice, largely because of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requirement that accredited hospitals and clinics must routinely assess all patients for pain. Pain assessments are often regarded as "the 5th Vital Sign." Various pain scales are available for neonates, infants, children, adolescents, adults, seniors, and persons whose communication is impaired. Pain ScaleĪ pain scale measures a persons pain intensity, and are based on self-report, observational (behavioral), or physiological data. There is often no outward signs showing how much a person is in pain. There are no tests that reveal how much you are suffering. One of the hardest things about chronic pain is that only you know how bad the pain feels. Chronic pain impairs the ability to direct attention, in particular when compared to peers with low intensity or no chronic pain, people with high-intensity chronic pain have significantly reduced ability to perform attention-demanding tasks. Chronic Painĭefined as pain that persists longer than the temporal course of natural healing, associated with a particular type of injury or disease process. Acute pain serves as a warning of disease or a threat to the body. Pain that comes on quickly, can be severe, but lasts a relatively short time. Phantom limb pain is an experience almost universally reported by amputees and quadriplegics. The sensation of pain from a limb or organ that has been lost or from which a person no longer receives physical signals. Headache, back pain, or stomach pain are some of the most common types of psychogenic pain. Types of Pain Include: Psychogenic PainĪlso called psychalgia or somatoform pain, is physical pain that is caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioral factors. Sometimes chronic pain is due to an ongoing cause, such as cancer or arthritis. However, sometimes pain goes on for weeks, months or even years. Once you take care of the problem, pain usually goes away. Without pain, you might seriously hurt yourself without knowing it, or you might not realize you have a medical problem that needs treatment. Pain can be helpful in diagnosing a problem. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.