Pain in any form is an unpleasant experience. Ranging from mild pains induced by headaches, joint pains or back problem to intensive pain due to arthritis, severe tooth aches, terminal diseases & after surgery recuperation, all forms of pain cause a physical discomfort along with a feeling of depression or sense of suffering.
What exactly is pain?
It is mostly a signal which is generated from the nerve cells of a damaged or hurt region of the body and sent towards the brain via the spinal cord. Hence the spinal cord is like the highway which carries all the impulses to the brain. Severe pain caused due to accidents are sent via the fast way towards the brain and lead to a stabbing sensation or a sharp agony, the reason for this sensation is because the body requires quick action since the injury is major. Mild pain or even continuous dull aches are sent via the slow path to the brain and are fell as a lingering discomfort or a throbbing ache which is manageable but causes distraction and uneasiness.
Managing Pain
Since we know that for a pain to register itself as a sensation it has to travel via the spinal cord and reach the brain it is possible to restrict this passage by blocking the signal before it reaches the brain. Most of the pain killers usually work as road blocks in the path of the pain signal which is trying to the reach the brain. In fact there are several pain killers which even manage to remove the symptoms of uneasiness or anxiety that’s because they block all negative signals from reaching the brain and hence the felt sense of well being. It is very important to staunch the feeling of pain, especially if its long term like say for over a few hours, because it has been proven medically that continuous sensation of pain can cause undue stress, anxiety, moodiness, lack of energy, loss of appetite and depression.
Resisting Pain Killers
It is foolish to act tough and resist the pain which is physically present over a long period because it will have adverse affects on your nervous system. It is medically advised to take pain killers to acquire relief for pain, which also helps the process of healing. Mild pains can also be controlled through pleasurable distractions such as watching your favorite movie or reading something interesting because these activities send pleasure signals which counter the flow of the pain signals, but this works only for mild pains. The bottom line being that any continuous sense of discomfort caused by pain should be staunched through medication either in the form of mild pain killers or muscle relaxants. If the pain continues over a period of time like say a couple of days make sure you visit your GP for verification. It is definitely ill advised to continue on a dose of mild pain killers such as paracetamol over a period of a couple of days, since it becomes evident that the body is unable to recover from the cause of pain, head to the doc.
Maintain The Dosage
If your doctor recommends a dosage of pain killers make sure you follow the dosage to the tab, don’t take an under dose or an overdose because both can be a problem. An under dose will result in the reoccurrence of the pain and hence reduce the positive effect or purpose of the pain killers. An over dose can be harmful depending on the pain killer being consumed. It is best to follow your physician advice in these cases, don’t try to act the doctor because most of your information about pain killers would be from sources that have no medical knowledge like your next door neighbor.
Addiction To Pain Killers, A Myth
Get your facts right and get it from people who have medical knowledge. It is a known myth that pain killers will cause addiction when taken over a short term and surely if taken on a long term. Most of the patients recuperating from major surgeries are given dose of opiate class of pain killers (which are the strongest) and are known not to get addicted to it once they are weaned off them. Pain killers taken over short term have no possibility of turning into an addiction unless a person decides to abuse it, in other words you need to have an addiction history to become an addict to a substance like pain killer. If you are normal with a good sense of well being and don’t have a history of being a substance abuser there is a negligible possibility of you turning into an addict.
The reason for addiction in some cases is easily attributed to the fact that the consumer becomes addicted to the acquired sense of well being which is generated mostly by pain killers which contain a small, medium to large amounts of opiate content. In these cases it is a definite possibility that the consumer has an inclination towards substance abuse to generate a feeling of pleasure, similar to any drug abuse. If you acquire any form of addiction to a pain killer, the symptoms would be that you don’t feel normal unless you take a couple or more pills, make sure you immediate report this to your GP. It is really easy to wean people off acquired pain killer addiction through the use of nerve depressants even in advanced stages. Let me be very clear that it is a myth that all patients who take pain killers actually get addicted to it, there are cases for sure but we cannot make such a general statement.
Summary
Pain killers are known to be a great healing source during recuperation and should not be avoided when recommended by the physician. Mild pain killers help regain normal activity when attacked by mild to severe pain due to physical damage or hurt. Avoid the intake of non prescribed pain killers and never for a period longer than a couple of days, if the pain does not subside its time to visit your GP whether you like it or not.