For the Relief of Pain

Abstract

“We humans are the most exquisite devices ever made for the experiencing of pain: the richer our inner lives, the greater the varieties of pain there are for us to feel - and the more resources we will have for mitigating pain”' so say the authors of your trusty Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. Hmm. Few people like to experience pain (there is the odd masochist out there) but we endure it knowing it is for our own good. Looking back though my second year neuroscience notes I find Dr. Malcom Wright exhorting us to remember that: “Pain is an unpleasant sensory experience quite distinct from any other form of sensation. It occurs following noxious (nociciptive) stimuli in normal persons and is the presenting symptom in many disease states. It is a warning that damage has occurred in the body”².