Treatment Options Pain Treatment

Treatment Options Clinical Pain

Chronic pain is an issue that all healthcare providers have to deal with at one time or another. The mitigation of pain is a major factor in whether an individual will be able to heal properly and in an appropriate length of time (text, 320). The three cases offered -- various types of pain from a below-the-knee amputation resulting from a diabetic neuropathy, acute pain from an abdominal hysterectomy, and chronic, non-migraine headaches -- have different levels and sources of pain which need to be addressed in different ways. Helping to eliminate the pain can come through the use of surgical, pharmaceutical, behavioral, and cognitive methods, and the proper use of these methods is decided by the type of pain, its acuteness, and where it is.

Case One

Originally, this problem was caused because the patient experienced diabetic neuropathy which, in itself, can cause acute pain (WebMD, 2010). The pain that the patient felt was real when they still had their foot and can be very real now that they have had the foot amputated also. There can be issues at the surgical site which could cause the person to be feeling pain. This could be as a result of scarring that is restricting movement of the area, it could be from decreased blood flow to the area due to a cut blood vessel, or any of a number of reasons brought on by the seriousness of the surgery itself. Of course there could be other issues which have caused the pain, but the main issue that any pain management professional would have to look at is pain of the phantom variety.

Many times a patient who has experienced the loss of a limb will have symptoms that are not actually a part of any actual physical issue. The brain is the provider of pain cues via neural pathways, an sometimes the...

Many amputees experience phantom pain from a limb that has been amputated and this can be treated using techniques in the psychological realm. The treatment for this type of pain is a significant issue because as many as 70% of amputees will have some degree of this pain (Jeffries, 2008). This type of pain is very resistant to treatment, according to Jeffries (2008), and it can become more acute. The preferred method may be to use cognitive methods which help the patient deal with the psychological issues of the pain. This can be as simple as relaxation techniques which can mitigate immediate pain or other, more behavioral, treatment methods which can help the patient reduce the issue over time.
The fact that the pain is actually not real can also be treated with chemicals. The placebo effect is a powerful phenomena which was early discovered by physicians. It is the brain convincing he person that the medication they are taking is helping them to defeat the pain. Since much of the pain from a severed limb comes as a result of the psychological trauma incurred, it is possible to use a placebo to help the patient. This is both a cognitive and a chemical means of treating the problem. Also, there may be some actual pain from the area of removal, and this could need some actual pain management via pharmaceuticals. It actually depends on where the patient says the pain is and how long it occurs. If the site of the supposed pain is healing well and there is no surgical issue, then it could very well be phantom. If, however, there appears to be infection at the site where the pain is being experienced, then different chemical or surgical methods can be employed to help the patient manage the pain.

Case Two

Any form of pain can be a serious problem that the body is trying to…