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Chronic Pain Vs. Tissue Damaged painkilling
painkilling is for reducing suffering
Date: 5/31/2013 4:53:23 AM ( 11 y ) ... viewed 8317 times
note - "tissue damaged" means where a leg is broken, or a burn, a cut, has damaged bodily tissues, or a disease process is damaging tissues, as in MS.
PAINKILLING IS FOR REDUCING SUFFERING
The degree of pain in tissue damaged patients could be more or less severe than the pain a chronic pain patient feels. For example, a tissue damage situation such as a hangnail might produce a lot of pain, or a little pain; Likewise, the chronic pain person might have a little pain or a severe pain.
The reason doctors prescribe a painkiller is to reduce the suffering of the person in pain.
The painkillers provide the same relief to both patients.
Therefore, there is no reason to give the chronic pain patient less painkillers when their pains are equal or greater than the tissue damaged patient.
A tissue damaged patient's pain is said to be a "useful pain" because it protects against further damage. Why would you want to take away "useful pain"?
A chronic pain patient's pain is said to be "useless pain" because there is nothing to protect so what is the harm in taking useless pain away? - unless, of course, continued use of the painful area will increase the pain - in which case that is just like the tissue damaged patient's pain. However, many Doctors do not believe that overuse of a chronic pain are actually makes the pain worse, but they are wrong, plain and simple, as I know for a fact that an area with a cramp will cramp even more if I continue to use it].
The bottom line is that in both cases, painkillers provide relief "after the fact" - once the pain has started, both chronic pain patients and tissue damaged patients feel the pain - and so the relief is just as valuable to both. There is no good reason to withhold pain medications for the chronic pain patient
Oh, except that in some cases,. the tissue damaged patient's damaged tissue will heal, and their pain will go away. That would mean only temporary use of painkillers is needed - or none at all, since short duration pain is tolerable, whereas chronic or long lasting pain tends to make people crazy.
Another distinction is made for cancer and noncancer pains - again, they both feel pain the same way, and their pains could be more or less severe in one than the other.... and, cancer patients might die, so give them all the morphine they want - it is like writing them off even though half of cancer patients do live.
The point is that it is utter hogwash to justify withholding chronic pain patient's painkillers on the basis that their tissues are not being damaged, or that they are not going to die soon [except perhaps by suicide]. We have to educate doctors better.
PAINKILLING IS FOR REDUCING SUFFERING and chronic pain patients suffer just as much as others.
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