Understanding pain
Pain is a sensation that tells you something may be wrong in a part of your body.
Everyone experiences pain but each person experiences pain differently, which means there are various ways to feel and describe it. Pain can last for a short period of time or it can be ongoing lasting days, weeks, months, or years.
Pain is not just a physical sensation, it is learned through life experiences; how we think and feel about pain is shaped by how our parents talked about pain and other attitudes and beliefs about the pain we have picked up along the way. Pain is always influenced by attitudes, beliefs, personality, and social factors, and can affect emotional and mental well-being.
Pain is also linked to the emotional centers in the brain, this means how you are feeling affects your pain. If you feel angry, depressed, or anxious, your pain can seem worse. If you are feeling positive or happy, your pain can seem less, and you can cope better.
Pain relief
The World Health Organisation recommends starting with simple analgesics for pain and if the pain is not controlled to add a NSAID and if the pain is still not controlled add the mildest possible opioid. It is important to add pain medications and not swap them and while the elimination of pain may not be possible, control of pain is generally attainable.
Pain treatments also depend on the type of pain, what has caused it, and where it is - so learning about the different types of pain and what can be done to manage pain can help reduce the impact on your life.
Analgesics
Paracetamols is a simple analgesic that can be used to treat mild pain and is the most-used pain relief in New Zealand.
Paracetamol acts mainly in the brain and has an effect on the way pain is felt. For some types of chronic or long-term pain, taking paracetamol at regular times may be helpful.
Combining paracetamol with an NSAID will improve the effectiveness of both.
Pain management techniques
You may find that pain management techniques - implemented and managed by yourself - without relying on medical interventions, can help to manage your pain.
Pain management techniques include using heat, a TENS machine, aromatherapy, self-hypnosis, and implementing relaxation, pacing, and distracting techniques.
Find out how different techniques can help you +
Combining complementary therapies, and changes to your lifestyle such as diet and exercise, alongside surgical and medical treatments can help with symptom and pain management.
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