yulius hermanto
The Control of Post-Operative Pain
Humans are he most exquisite devices ever made for experiencing pain: the richer our inner lives, the greater the varieties of pain there are for us to feel, and the more resources we have for dealing with the pain.
Pain has a complex association with our body, If we have pain, most of us will have a discomfort situation that put them into psychological stress. While, people with psychological problems, may also have pain, that may not correlated with tissue injury, but pain is pain, it's discomfort, unpleasant, stressful experience.
Thus, diagnosis and management of pain is important in daily practice. The fact is human can't live without the pain, because it's natural signal of tissue injury. But to relieve pain, is really helpful for those, in order to alleviate their suffering and improving their quality of life. Most of the research is demanding on survival rates, but it is not about the quantity, but about the quality of life.
It's different between people who live longer but experience unpleasant situation, compare to people who live shorter but have a joyful life.
Never forget how painful pain is, nor how fear magnifies pain.
Why is pain control so important?
In addition to keeping a person comfortable, pain control can help someone recover faster and may reduce the risk of developing certain complications after surgery, such as pneumonia and blood clots. If your pain is well controlled, you will be better able to complete important tasks such as walking and deep breathing exercises.
Kinds of Post-Operaitive Pain
Often times the incision itself is not the only area of discomfort. A person may or may not feel the following:
* Muscle pain - feeling of muscle pain in the neck, shoulders, back, or chest from lying on the operating table.
* Throat pain - something like a sore throat or scratchy.
* Movement pain - Sitting up, walking, and coughing are all important activities after surgery, but they may cause increased pain at or around the incision site.
Pain is Subjective
There is an agreement that the experience of pain is different between everyone, or more subjective. So, we need an objective tools to measure the quality of pain thus can be use in monitoring of pain control. There are several scales that have been developed as pain scales, often to be used is Numeric Pain Scale.
While you are recovering, your doctors and nurses will frequently ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with "0" being "no pain" and "10" being "the worst pain you can imagine." Keep in mind that your comfort level (ie, ability to breathe deeply or cough) is more important than absolute numbers (ie, pain score).
Types of Pain-Control Treatments
Pain control is varies between patients, and it determine by many things, the doctor and you will discuss which modality that suits your condition.
You may receive more than one type of pain treatment, depending on your needs and the type of surgery you are having. All of these treatments are relatively safe, but like any therapy, they are not completely free of risk. Dangerous side effects are rare. Nausea, vomiting, itching, and drowsiness can occur. These side effects are usually easily treated in most cases.
Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA)
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a computerized pump that safely permits you to push a button and deliver small amounts of pain medicine into your intravenous (IV) line, usually in your arm. There is no injection of needles into your muscle. PCA provides stable pain relief in most situations. Many patients like the sense of control they have over their pain management.
The PCA pump is programmed to give a certain amount of medication when you press the button. It will only allow you to have so much medication, no matter how often you press the button, so there is little worry that you will give yourself too much.
Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia
Many people are familiar with epidural anesthesia because it is frequently used to control pain during childbirth. Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia uses a PCA pump to deliver pain-control medicine into an epidural catheter (a very thin plastic tube) that is placed into your back.
Epidural analgesia is usually more effective in relieving pain than intravenous medication. Patients who receive epidural analgesia typically have less pain when they take deep breaths, cough, and walk, and they may recover more quickly. For patients with medical problems such as heart or lung disease, epidural analgesia may reduce the risk of serious complications such as heart attack and pneumonia.
Nerve Blocks
You may be offered a nerve block to control your pain after surgery. Whereas an epidural controls pain over a broad area of your body, a nerve block is used when pain from surgery affects a smaller region of your body, such as an arm or leg. There are several potential advantages of a nerve block. It may allow for a significant reduction in the amount of opioid (narcotic) medication, which may result in fewer side effects such as nausea, vomiting, itching, and drowsiness.
Oral Pain Medications
During the phase of recovery from surgery, after evaluating the overall health condition, your doctor will order pain medications to be taken by mouth (oral pain medications). These may be ordered to come at a specified time, or you may need to ask your nurse to bring them to you. Most oral pain medications can be taken every 4 hours. But it doesn't mean that you only can take medication every 4 hours, when you feel the pain is severe and not relieve by the drug, you call a nurse or doctor, they will give you an extra-medication.
There are many kinds of oral pain medications such as NSAIDs, Opiods, and Paracetamol, etc. Each drug has its own benefits and side effects, and it is used according to pain scale or the quality of pain, more severe the pain, the stronger pain relief such as opiod.
Are there ways to relieve pain without medication?
Yes, there are other ways to relieve pain and it is important to keep an open mind about these techniques. When used along with medication, these techniques can dramatically reduce pain.
Relaxation tapes or Guided Imagery is a proven form of focused relaxation that coaches you in creating calm, peaceful images in your mind -- a "mental escape." While at home, heat or cold therapy may be an option that your surgeon may choose to help reduce swelling and control your pain.
If you have an abdominal or chest incision, you will want to splint the area with a pillow when you are coughing or deep breathing to decrease motion near your incision.
Take home message
Lastly, make sure you are comfortable with your treatment plan. Talk to your doctor and nurses about your concerns and needs. This will help avoid miscommunication, stress, anxiety, and disappointment, which may make pain worse. Keep asking questions until you have satisfactory answers. You are the one who will benefit.
Pain has a complex association with our body, If we have pain, most of us will have a discomfort situation that put them into psychological stress. While, people with psychological problems, may also have pain, that may not correlated with tissue injury, but pain is pain, it's discomfort, unpleasant, stressful experience.
Thus, diagnosis and management of pain is important in daily practice. The fact is human can't live without the pain, because it's natural signal of tissue injury. But to relieve pain, is really helpful for those, in order to alleviate their suffering and improving their quality of life. Most of the research is demanding on survival rates, but it is not about the quantity, but about the quality of life.
Never forget how painful pain is, nor how fear magnifies pain.
Why is pain control so important?
In addition to keeping a person comfortable, pain control can help someone recover faster and may reduce the risk of developing certain complications after surgery, such as pneumonia and blood clots. If your pain is well controlled, you will be better able to complete important tasks such as walking and deep breathing exercises.
Kinds of Post-Operaitive Pain
Often times the incision itself is not the only area of discomfort. A person may or may not feel the following:
* Muscle pain - feeling of muscle pain in the neck, shoulders, back, or chest from lying on the operating table.
* Movement pain - Sitting up, walking, and coughing are all important activities after surgery, but they may cause increased pain at or around the incision site.
Pain is Subjective
There is an agreement that the experience of pain is different between everyone, or more subjective. So, we need an objective tools to measure the quality of pain thus can be use in monitoring of pain control. There are several scales that have been developed as pain scales, often to be used is Numeric Pain Scale.
While you are recovering, your doctors and nurses will frequently ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with "0" being "no pain" and "10" being "the worst pain you can imagine." Keep in mind that your comfort level (ie, ability to breathe deeply or cough) is more important than absolute numbers (ie, pain score).
Types of Pain-Control Treatments
Pain control is varies between patients, and it determine by many things, the doctor and you will discuss which modality that suits your condition.
You may receive more than one type of pain treatment, depending on your needs and the type of surgery you are having. All of these treatments are relatively safe, but like any therapy, they are not completely free of risk. Dangerous side effects are rare. Nausea, vomiting, itching, and drowsiness can occur. These side effects are usually easily treated in most cases.
Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA)
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a computerized pump that safely permits you to push a button and deliver small amounts of pain medicine into your intravenous (IV) line, usually in your arm. There is no injection of needles into your muscle. PCA provides stable pain relief in most situations. Many patients like the sense of control they have over their pain management.
The PCA pump is programmed to give a certain amount of medication when you press the button. It will only allow you to have so much medication, no matter how often you press the button, so there is little worry that you will give yourself too much.
Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia
Many people are familiar with epidural anesthesia because it is frequently used to control pain during childbirth. Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia uses a PCA pump to deliver pain-control medicine into an epidural catheter (a very thin plastic tube) that is placed into your back.
Epidural analgesia is usually more effective in relieving pain than intravenous medication. Patients who receive epidural analgesia typically have less pain when they take deep breaths, cough, and walk, and they may recover more quickly. For patients with medical problems such as heart or lung disease, epidural analgesia may reduce the risk of serious complications such as heart attack and pneumonia.
Nerve Blocks
You may be offered a nerve block to control your pain after surgery. Whereas an epidural controls pain over a broad area of your body, a nerve block is used when pain from surgery affects a smaller region of your body, such as an arm or leg. There are several potential advantages of a nerve block. It may allow for a significant reduction in the amount of opioid (narcotic) medication, which may result in fewer side effects such as nausea, vomiting, itching, and drowsiness.
Oral Pain Medications
During the phase of recovery from surgery, after evaluating the overall health condition, your doctor will order pain medications to be taken by mouth (oral pain medications). These may be ordered to come at a specified time, or you may need to ask your nurse to bring them to you. Most oral pain medications can be taken every 4 hours. But it doesn't mean that you only can take medication every 4 hours, when you feel the pain is severe and not relieve by the drug, you call a nurse or doctor, they will give you an extra-medication.
There are many kinds of oral pain medications such as NSAIDs, Opiods, and Paracetamol, etc. Each drug has its own benefits and side effects, and it is used according to pain scale or the quality of pain, more severe the pain, the stronger pain relief such as opiod.
Are there ways to relieve pain without medication?
Yes, there are other ways to relieve pain and it is important to keep an open mind about these techniques. When used along with medication, these techniques can dramatically reduce pain.
Relaxation tapes or Guided Imagery is a proven form of focused relaxation that coaches you in creating calm, peaceful images in your mind -- a "mental escape." While at home, heat or cold therapy may be an option that your surgeon may choose to help reduce swelling and control your pain.
If you have an abdominal or chest incision, you will want to splint the area with a pillow when you are coughing or deep breathing to decrease motion near your incision.
Take home message
Lastly, make sure you are comfortable with your treatment plan. Talk to your doctor and nurses about your concerns and needs. This will help avoid miscommunication, stress, anxiety, and disappointment, which may make pain worse. Keep asking questions until you have satisfactory answers. You are the one who will benefit.
