ABC by Paley - PAIN

And although pain is such an unpleasant feeling, both physically and emotionally, it plays a very important role. It informs us that something is wrong with our body and protects us from danger. It clearly shows that we have to take care of the sore spot as soon as possible.

People suffering from congenital analgesia know how harmful the effects of the lack of pain sensation is - a disease consisting in the complete absence of pain sensations.

At first glance, it sounds like a fairy tale. However, people suffering from this disease, without realizing that they are hurting themselves, can burn their mouths and gulp down with hot tea, or run around town with a broken leg. They are more likely to be seriously injured and hurt because they do not have a sensor to alert them to the fact that something is wrong with their bodies.

So let's look at pain with a more favorable eye. The more that we do not have to passively wait for it to pass by itself. We can take advantage of the discoveries of medicine that knows how to relieve pain. We currently have effective pain relief agents. Pharmacology should be supplemented with non-pharmacological methods of pain relief, including relaxation and deep breathing, massage, warm or cold compresses.

When patients come to our Institute, we can often hear that they are afraid of pain after surgery. It is only natural for such fear to arise. Our medical team makes sure that the patient feels as well as possible during the entire treatment, and the pain after the surgery is relieved as soon as possible. In the treatment of pain, it is important to administer drugs at the right time and in a well-chosen dose so that the pain does not get worse.

The medical staff makes every effort to ensure that everything is done on time. However, there may be times when a child reports that he or she is in pain before the next dose of painkiller or parents notice that they are behaving differently. Then it is worth reporting your observations to the nurses on duty in the ward.

A few tips:

Each of us experiences pain in a slightly different way. It depends on the pain threshold which increases with age. In addition to the stage of development of the nervous system, the current mental state plays an important role in experiencing pain. Therefore, it is worth listening to your child and taking what he says seriously. Perhaps from the point of view of an adult, a child has no reason to feel pain. When a child is anxious, their pain sensations automatically increase. In addition, there is a tensing of the muscles, which again leads to more pain.

So the next time your baby falls over and cries, avoid saying it's okay. From the child's perspective, something bad happened. If we don't know what to say, just hug the baby and let him know we're here. We can also introduce a pain scale, where "1" means it only hurts a little bit and "5" means it's the worst pain in the world. Such marking of sensations on the scale should be discussed in advance at home, so that the child knows what it is about and can use it in a difficult situation.

If you are preparing your child for an operation or other medical procedure, tell him or her in a simple and clear way what will happen. Let them know that they may experience pain, but you and the medical team will make sure it is a little pain. If your child asks questions, don't lie to them. Answer honestly, adequately to the age of the child. You can make a drawing of the pain together (for this, recall the pain that the child has experienced when falling or hitting something). Have the child draw what the pain looked like and give it a name. It will be easier for a child to cope with pain when she gets to know and tame it. And above all, when he realizes that the pain can be eliminated and sooner or later even the most painful pain will pass.