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Medical Information, MISCELLANEOUS

Concept of Pain

English: Illustration of the pain pathway in R...

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Lying in my bed while typing this, the clock’s read 1:11 am, why am I still awake? Don’t know exactly. Maybe this is due to the fact that earlier that day, I consumed 6 analgesics (4 mefenamic acid plus 2 naproxen sodium) in all. One of my teeth gives me a lot to cry on. Had visited my dentist earlier and she had confirmed my hunch, the gums surrounding my one-month old newly filled tooth were inflamed (and very painful, indeed…). She advised that I should take some antibiotics and prescribed a gargle, and as sympathy for what I’m going through, an analgesic of higher potency.

I still don’t know why I’m facing my laptop and typing this stuff, I even don’t know what things (do hope it’s beneficial) will materialize from my brain at this point of analgesic euphoria. But who cares? I missed posting on my blog, and hope this one may be a good piece to post.

Let’s talk about pain (as it is the thing that lingers every inch of my body earlier). Medically speaking, is highly unpleasant and very personal sensation that cannot be shared with others. It is physical or mental distress cause by disease or injury and said to be universally feared (strongest fear after fear of death). And for nurses, it is referred as the 5th vital signs (Campbell, 1995). There are certain chemicals that trigger the perception of pain, like bradykinin, histamine (seen in allergies) and prostaglandin. The part of the brain that is responsible for perception of pain is the thalamus while the one that interprets it is the cerebral cortex. There were also natural pain killers that was produced by the body once pain is triggered, there were called enkaphalins and endorphins, which were produced normally but can be enhanced by doing some activities like eating chocolates or having sex (I do advised doing the first one.. :P…)

Hmmmm enough of medical stuff, actually what’s playing on my mind is actually the argument that, why does pain exist? Every one of us had their own version of going through pain. In every aspect possible, physical, emotional and mental (or other aspects) pain had caused us unforgettable experiences. In my existence, I had my own dose of experiencing pain, and looking back through all those years, I had some lessons about it that I can share…

The most painful things are not the one being shown, but rather, those which were buried, ignored and forgotten. I cried a lot whenever my dad spank me, but looking back is not the physical pain that made me cry, it is the things that made my dad spank me that really cause my tears. Pain doesn’t only concern the physical aspect but rather and in a heavier weight, it’s the emotional aspect that really causes it.

Pain makes someone selfish and vulnerable. Having in a state of agony, one will think of only making one’s self comfortable. It is sad, but it is a reality, someone in pain looks for self-gratification. Humans were egocentric creatures, pain fuels up this aspect. In connection to being selfish, someone in pain will be so predispose to vulnerability to change. Looking for comfort, someone in pain will have an increase tendency to trust on people who shows them compassion, or increase affection for someone who gives companionships. That’s the basic reason for why we say “mas madaling magmove-on pag may kasama habang nagmomove-on…” It will be needless to say, that caution must be done during those times, for when pain was gone, so as the vulnerability.

Pain results from our own actions; it is a consequence we usually blame to others. Remember my first day on the gym, the instructor gave me instructions to warm – up and starts with basic exercises, like stretching and running on the treadmills. But with so much excitement, those activities didn’t suffice my need to lift some weights, so I didn’t finished my warm-up exercises and immediately lift some good dumbbells and barbells. Later that night, I was lying in my bed without moving any part of my body; a single movement even if it’s one of my fingers causes me agonizing pain. Is it the instructor’s fault? or my gym buddies? Nah… It was mine.

Pain is not a weakness, and not feeling it is not strength. We’ve been told numerous times that pain makes us stronger, but between those words, do we really understand how it works? There were two terms I usually discussed in connection to pain; those were pain threshold and pain tolerance. Pain threshold is the minimal amount of stimulus to cause perception of pain, while tolerance is the amount of pain a body can tolerate and endure. Once someone felt pain, it is pain threshold that will dictates whether that someone will interpret it as painful or not, and in experiencing pain, the amount of threshold was maximized if pain is repeatedly felt. As the amount of threshold increases, the duration of tolerance will also increase. Putting it in real life, the earlier you will experience the bits of life, the more you can endure it.

So why there’s pain in our lives? Guess I found the answers. Pains were signs of development. It is the one that reflects maturity. It doesn’t merely strain the body, but it trains you as a person. Pain is unpleasant, but having felt that, we can genuinely appreciate what is pleasant. Pain causes sorrow, but it help us treasure the time ahead of us. Why there is pain in our lives? Because it is a proof that you are alive. ^_^… Need to sleep, my eye bags were growing bigger than my eyes… Good night!


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