Paly ABC - PAIN

Pain informs us that something bad is happening in our body and thus protects us from danger. It emphatically shows that we are to take care of the sore spot as soon as possible.

How detrimental in its consequences is the lack of pain sensation, know those suffering from congenital analgesia - a condition consisting of a complete lack of pain sensation. At first glance, it sounds like a fairy tale. However, these people, without realizing they are hurting themselves, are able to steam their mouth and esophagus with hot tea or walk with a broken leg without knowingly making it worse. They are more likely to suffer serious accidents and injuries because they don't have a sensor to alert them that something wrong is happening in their bodies.

So it is worth looking at pain with a more favorable eye. Especially since we don't have to passively wait for it to pass on its own. We can take advantage of the discoveries of medicine, which knows effective ways to relieve pain. In addition to pharmacological solutions, it is worth using additional methods of pain relief, and these include 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 that such a concern arises. Our medical team makes sure that the patient feels as comfortable as possible throughout the treatment, and that pain after surgery is relieved as soon as possible. In pain management, it is important that medication is administered at the right time and in a well-chosen dose so that the pain does not have time to worsen. Medical personnel make an effort to ensure that everything is done on time. However, it can happen that a child reports before the next dose of pain medication is administered that something hurts, or parents notice that the toddler behaves differently. It is then worth reporting your observations to the nurses on duty in the ward.

Everyone experiences pain in a slightly different way. This depends on the threshold for feeling pain, which increases with age. In addition to the stage of development of the nervous system, the current mental state plays an important role in the experience of pain. Therefore, it is worth listening to the child and taking seriously what he or she says. Perhaps from an adult's point of view, a child has no reason to feel pain. When he or she feels anxiety, then the muscles automatically tighten, resulting in increased pain.

Some tips:

For example, when a child falls over and starts crying, avoid saying that nothing happened. From the child's perspective, something bad has happened. If we don't know what to say, it' s enough to hug the child and let him know that we are beside him.

We can also introduce a pain scale, where "1" means that the pain is minimal, and "5" is the worst pain in the world. Such marking of sensations on the scale is worth discussing at home beforehand, so that the child knows what it is about and can use it in a difficult situation.

It's also a good idea to create a drawing of pain together (for this, recall the pain in your child's memory when he fell or hit himself on something). Let him draw what that pain looked like and give it a name. Once it is recognized and tamed, it will be easier to deal with it. In working with the concept of pain, it is worth reminding the child that eventually, sooner or later, he managed to get rid of it.

If you are preparing your child for an operation or other medical procedure, tell him or her in simple and clear terms what will happen. Warn him or her that he or she may experience pain, but that both you and the medical team will make sure it is as little as possible. If your child asks questions, don't lie to them. Answer honestly, appropriate to the child's age.