“Pain Assessment” Pain is an unpleasant sensation of being unwell. It may be localized in some particular area or generalized as well. It is a key feature of underlying inflammation.
What does pain tells about?
- Pain makes a person aware that something is going wrong inside the body.
- Some disease process is going on.
- Pain-producing mediators are released inside the body.
- It tells that there is somewhere inflammation in the system.
- Pain also makes the person ready for upcoming circumstances related to an underlying condition.
Management of pain
The appearance of pain is not a good sign. It should be carefully and immediately managed. To manage the pain, several points are to be kept in mind.
Five key components of pain assessment?
It is not easy to manage pain blindly. When someone appears with pain, several questions come to mind to explore the cause and nature of pain. These are the components of pain. There are about five major components of pain that must be evaluated before starting any treatment of pain. These include
- Words
- Intensity
- Location
- Duration
- Precipitating factors
1. Words
When a person comes with pain the most important thing is to notice his words that what he is telling. The words of the patient deliver much of the knowledge regarding the pain.For example, a person is saying that “I am having severe pain”. In this sentence, the patient has told two important things. One is that patient is having pain and the second thing is the severity of the pain that is intense.
2. Intensity
The patient’s words do not give always complete information regarding his situation. For example, a person is saying that “I am having pain in my belly”. In this situation, the person is not telling about the severity or intensity of pain. We have to ask the patient whether the pain is
- Mild,
- Moderate or
- Severe
Type of pain also matters in assessing the pain for example either the pain is
- Sharp
- Throbbing
- Pinching
- Quenching
- Penetrating
- Dull
- Radiating or not
3. Location
Location of pain is very important in understanding the cause of pain. For example pain in the abdomen may be in
- Just beneath the diaphragm in the center
- On the upper left side of the abdomen
- On the right side
- In the center of the abdomen
- In the lower right or left flank region etc.
All these sites of pain give information about different diseases. For example pain in the left upper abdomen is usually the pain in the stomach. Pain on the right side is usually in the liver and so on.
4. Duration
Some pains last for only a few minutes to hours while some persist for days and weeks. Duration of the pain tells about the condition and chronicity of the disease.
5. Precipitating factors
Different factors affect pain. There are two types of factors
- Aggravating factors
- Relieving factors
Aggravating factors
These are factors through which the pain aggravates. For example, eating something is an aggravating factor for stomach pain, which means stomach pain increases with eating.
Relieving factors
These are factors through which the pain is reduced. For example pain and burning sensation of the stomach are markedly reduced by taking milk so it is its relieving factor.
Asking about these factors helps in managing pain and in the actual diagnosis of underlying disease.
Conclusion
Pain is not a disease it is a symptom. It should be carefully evaluated and accordingly managed. If a doctor has command of these five key components he can easily diagnose the cause of pain and treat it. If you want more information about drugs then Benzo Cart is well for you.
FAQs
What are the five components of basic pain assessment?
Statement of the sufferer
Location
Severity
Precipitating factor
Duration
What is the standard for pain assessment?
What is the most important part of pain assessment?
What is PQRST pain assessment?
P: Precipitating factors.
Q: Quality of pain, means the type and nature of pain whether it is pinching, throbbing, quenching, etc.
R: Radiation of pain, means where is the pain located and in what direction it moves.
S: Statement of the patient about pain.
T: Time of pain
What are the different pain assessment tools?
Numerical rating scale
Verbal rating scale
Visual analog scale
Faces pain scale revised
