Two significant types of pain exist in life: acute and chronic. The sudden stab of gallstones is descriptive of acute pain. In contrast, the lower backache of a construction worker who suffered a fall ten years earlier is chronic pain....
moreTwo significant types of pain exist in life: acute and chronic. The sudden stab of gallstones is descriptive of acute pain. In contrast, the lower backache of a construction worker who suffered a fall ten years earlier is chronic pain. The difference is not one of intensity, as both types can be ferocious, but of duration. Chronic pain exceeds the relatively short-lived trauma of a gunshot wound or even a diver's belly flop into a swimming pool. Regardless, both types of pain involve complex psychological factors, but the difference is profound. Chronic pain sufferers deal with a range of issues that never occur to patients of acute pain, and in fact, their very identity becomes linked with their pain. In either case, the relationship between the sensation of hurting and actual damage to the organism is tenuous. Nevertheless, pain in all forms can be mighty, and for many people, it can signify a consequential loss or even a premonition of death. One thing for sure, all pain gets our full attention! There is something that occurs between the feeling of pain and ourselves. The connection between pain and self, and the evaluation of the loss of self, highlights the dualism of pain. Here is where we can better understand a person's feelings of grief or distress. Physical, emotional, and spiritual pain all have a strong influence on behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs. In hospice care, we conduct a pain observation so that a patient's baseline can be determined. While the common focus is physical pain, all pain types should be considered for interventions to be effective. Why examine the various types of pain? Well, because we all know pain in one form or another, and it is part of the human experience. Our own pain, points to our frailty and connects us with other human beings. Therefore, by understanding both our own and our patient's relationship with pain, we caregivers are better informed about how to provide holistic comfort. Holistic comfort is defined as the immediate experience of being strengthened through having the needs for relief, ease, and transcendence met in four contexts of experience (physical, psycho-spiritual, social, and environmental) (Kolcaba, 2010) Psycho-spiritual comfort is a combination of psychological comfort and spiritual comfort whereby specific indicators of each overlap. In some cases, these indicators are identical (e.g., meaningfulness, faith, identity, self-esteem). Providing physical, psychological and spiritual comfort = Wounded Healer!