The significance of pain medicine

Published: November 29, 2022

Pain management professionals assist patients in controlling their pain with medicine, surgery, exercises and therapy. Medical specialists may recommend a single method or a combination of approaches to reduce or eliminate pain. Depending on the reason and kind of pain, total alleviation may be impossible, or the pain may not be relieved immediately. As a result, medical professionals will collaborate with their patients to change their pain management plan so that they may feel better and employ appropriate pain medicine treatment techniques.

Types of pain

Afterall, everyone feels pain every now and then. Pain is the most common symptom of hundreds of traumas, diseases, disorders and ailments that people may experience over their lifetime. It can also be caused by treatments for diseases and conditions. Pain may stay for a short time and then go, or it may last for months or years. Some types of pain have no recognised source. The following are examples of pain:

Acute pain
This type of pain is usually the result of an accident. Acute pain improves when the injury or condition that is causing it is treated. This form of pain can be caused by a bone fracture, muscular spasms, a burn or another type of trauma, or, in certain cases, diseases and disorders.

Chronic pain
Is defined as pain that lasts more than six months. An untreated injury or sickness might cause this sort of discomfort. It can also be caused by illnesses such as arthritis, nerve damage or other conditions. Low back pain, for example, is a form of chronic pain.

Nociceptive pain
You experience this pain when you suffer an injury, like hitting your head, or straining a muscle. The discomfort might be abrupt or brief, or it can persist for a long period of time. It might have an impact on your internal organs as well as your musculoskeletal system.

Neuropathic pain
It’s caused by abnormalities with the neurological system. It occurs when nerves send pain messages to the brain by accident, even if they're not damaged. Diabetes, multiple sclerosis and human immunodeficiency viruses are all major causes of this sort of discomfort.

Benefits of pain control

Pain medicine is critical for improving one's cognitive, motivational, emotional, behavioural and physical well-being. It can enhance how patients feel and perform physically, their ability to function in personal and professional relationships, their general feeling of well-being, and/or the degree of their suffering.

Treatment of pain

There are many techniques for dealing with different types of pain. A team of pain management professionals will aid in treating the patient's discomfort. To control or treat pain, medical professionals with expertise in pain management may prescribe a single pain reliever or a mix of many treatments. Few of these might include:

Medications
Depending on the type of pain, a medical expert may offer prescription or over-the-counter medications to alleviate discomfort. Alternatively, the patient may require medicines to treat an infection, muscle relaxants to relieve spasms, or anti-inflammatory medications to reduce inflammation.

Physical therapy
For many individuals, physical therapy relieves their discomfort. During these hands-on treatments, a doctor will utilise a range of techniques. Those will relieve pain, improve posture and allow your body to perform more efficiently.

Counselling
Because chronic pain may lead to depression and anxiety, a medical professional may recommend therapy, counselling, or meditation to help a patient to manage these symptoms. Some people keep a pain journal to track what causes their pain to worsen or improve. These details may help the doctor plan therapy.

Of course, there are many more pain control treatment options available to assist the individual in receiving the appropriate evaluation, treatment and care based on the type of pain they are experiencing and the reason for their pain.

Developing skills with further education for pain control

You may be well aware, as a medical professional, that pain management is a vast, critical and satisfying specialty. Helping people who are in pain can enhance their quality of life as well as their physical and mental health with pain medicine. This is why medical professionals must continue their education to stay current on many aspects of pain management in order to deliver exceptional care to the people they care for.

This is why Learna’s distance learning pain management programme, which has been validated by the University of South Wales, covers a broad range of pain-related disorders. The course is intended to address the educational needs of both primary and secondary healthcare practitioners, with an emphasis on direct application to current topics, case studies and methods relevant to the student's field of expertise and country of practice. The programmes are excellent for Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Practice Nurses and others with related undergraduate degrees or similar professional skills and experience.

Furthermore, our programmes are accredited by the UEMS - European Union of Medical Specialists and consist of six modules that last six weeks for the postgraduate diploma and eight modules that last two years for the masters. After the completion of our pain management programmes, you will be able to walk away with the ability to:

  • Demonstrate a systematic understanding of patient pain management care.
  • Evaluate current research in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary pain management.
  • Demonstrate a critical awareness of acute and chronic pain self-care promotion.
  • Provide management strategies for the evaluation and treatment of pain sufferers.

If you'd like to learn more about our flexible and affordable distance learning pain management programme, please click here to download the prospectus or contact our specialist admission team, who will be happy to assist you.

Related articles: