Pain Essay

Pain is a world-wide known problem that affects individuals' health. It is often explained through both physiological and psychological dimensions. This essay will clearly address a complete definition of pain outlining its types. Theories of pain are going to be unambiguously explained and a fine view of the Biopsychosocial model of pain will be stated. As a final step, the different methods which health professionals can manage treating pain referring to the behavioral and cognitive approaches.  

            Pain is 'an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage' as defined by Sanderson C (2004). In another occasion Godfrey H (2005) suggests that pain is a universal problem that is capable of affecting people of all ages, socioeconomic groups and ethnicities. This problem is found to have two main types which are described by Taylor S (2006) as acute and chronic pain. Acute pain naturally results from a precise injury that generates tissue damage, such as a wound or a broken limb. By and large it is short in duration and goes on for six months or less. Chronic pain begins with an acute pain but it doesn’t decrease with treatment and lasts for much longer time. Chronic is a larger field than the acute one descending several types such as chronic benign pain, recurrent acute pain, and chronic progressive pain. It usually carries an overlay of psychological distress which distinguishes it from acute pain and complicates its diagnosis and treatment.  

            There are three theories of pain according to Niven, N (2006), which are generally the specificity theory, the pattern theory, and the gate control theory. Each will be described individually for further explanation.

            The specificity theory proposed that there are specific pathways in charge of sending out pain messages to a pain center within the brain. This was established by the French philosopher...