Five things I learned about pain this year

Our definitions of pain matter more to researchers and people who like to philosophise about pain than to people experiencing pain. At the same time, definitions do matter because when the IASP definition of pain was first established, the distinction between the neurobiological underpinnings of pain – and the experience – was clear. And this matters because neurobiology is only part of the picture. (Chekka & Benzon, 2018; Cohen, Quintner & van Rysewyk, 2018; Reuter, Sienhold & Sytsma, 2018; Tesarz & Eich, 2017; Williams & Craig, 2016)The idea of “tribes” in pain and pain management is a misinterpretation of our need to work together as clinicians because pain is complex. The old argument that we’ve omitted “the bio” because we use a biopsychosocial framework for understanding pain is, frankly, ignorant. It’s also destructive because we need one another when we try to help people who are seeking our help. And even if someone has a straightforward sprain, fracture, or whatever – that sprain is happening to a living, breathing, thinking, emoting, motivated person. If we are to break down the silo thinking in pain management, we also need to learn how to work together within an interprofessional team. This means learning to speak a common language. This also means including the person with the pain as part of the team. To think that we can ignore the person and focus only on “the tissues” means...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Pain conditions Professional topics diagnosis Education interprofessional lived experience silos social sociology tribes Source Type: blogs